1) A vacation property valued at ?$42,500 was bought for 50 payments of $1790 due at the end of every 6 months

1) 

Computation of Rate using Rate Function in Excel:

=rate(nper,pmt,-pv,fv)*2

Here,

Rate = ?

Nper = 50

PMT = $1790

PV = $42500

FV = Substituting the values in formula:

=rate(50,1790,-42500,0)*2

Rate = 6.87%

So, Nominal annual rate of interest compounded annually was? 6.87% charged.

2) 

Computation of Return (in percent) of the stock market that day:

Return = (Current Close - Previous Close)/Previous Close *100

Here,

Current Close = 14,253.77

Previous Close = 14,253.77 - 125.95 = 14,127.82

Return = (14,253.77 - 14,127.82)/14,127.82*100 = 0.89%

So, Return (in percent) of the stock market that day is 0.89