Stocks have moved mostly higher in morning trading on Tuesday, regaining ground following the weakness seen to start the week. The major averages have all moved to the upside, with the Dow rebounding after closing lower for six straight sessions.
Currently, the major averages are hovering near their best levels of the day. The Dow is up 136.67 points or 0.4 percent at 33,851.38, the Nasdaq is up 81.63 points or 0.6 percent at 13,417.41 and the S&P 500 is up 21.44 points or 0.5 percent at 4,350.26.
The strength on Wall Street may partly reflect optimism the U.S. economy will avoid a recession following the release of several upbeat reports.
The Commerce Department released a report showing an unexpected surge in new orders for U.S. manufactured durable goods in the month of May.
The report said durable goods orders shot up by 1.7 percent in May after jumping by an upwardly revised 1.2 percent in April.
Economists had expected durable goods orders to slump by 1.0 percent compared to the 1.1 percent advance that had been reported for the previous month.
Excluding a surge in orders for transportation equipment, durable goods orders climbed by 0.6 percent in May after falling by a revised 0.6 percent in April.
Ex-transportation orders were expected to edge down by 0.1 percent compared to the 0.2 percent dip that had been reported for the previous month.
A separate Commerce Department unexpectedly showed a sharp increase in new home sales in the U.S. in the month of May.
The report said new home sales soared 12.2 percent to an annual rate of 763,000 in May after surging 3.5 percent to a revised rate of 680,000 in April.
Economists had expected new home sales to slump 1.2 percent to an annual rate of 675,000 from the 683,000 originally reported for the previous month.
With the unexpected spike, new home sales reached their highest level since hitting a rate of 773,000 in February 2022.
Another report released by the Conference Board showed a significant improvement in U.S. consumer confidence in the month of June.
The Conference Board said its consumer confidence index jumped to 109.7 in June from a revised 102.5 in May. Economists had expected the index to rise to 103.7 from the 102.3 originally reported for the previous month.
Later in the week, the Commerce Department is due to release its report on personal income and spending in the month of May, which includes a reading on inflation said to be preferred by the Federal Reserve.
The consumer price inflation data could significantly impact opinions regarding whether the Fed will follow through on its forecast interest rate hikes.
Sector News
Airline stocks have moved sharply on the day, with the NYSE Arca Airline Index soaring by 2.2 percent after closing lower for three straight sessions.
Delta Air Lines (DAL) is posting a standout gain after raising its second quarter earnings guidance and forecasting full-year earnings at the high end of its prior forecast.
The upbeat new home sales is also contributing to significant strength among housing stocks, as reflected by the 2.2 percent jump by the Philadelphia Housing Sector Index. The index has reached a record intraday high.
Networking, oil service and telecom stocks are also seeing considerable strength on the day, while gold stocks have moved to the downside amid a modest decrease by the price of the precious metal.
Other Markets
In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region turned in a mixed performance during trading on Tuesday. Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index fell by 0.5 percent, while China’s Shanghai Composite Index jumped by 1.2 percent.
Meanwhile, the major European markets have all moved modestly higher on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index is up by 0.3 percent, the German DAX Index is up by 0.1 percent and the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index is just above the unchanged line.
In the bond market, treasuries have moved to the downside following the upbeat economic data. As a result, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, is up by 4.3 basis points at 3.762 percent.
Business News
U.S. Stocks Move Mostly Higher On Upbeat Economic Data
2023-06-27 15:05:32
