Stocks Surge On Positive Economic Data
Tweet
Share
E-mail
Stocks started stronger today and didn't look back, propelled by a host of positive economic datapoints.
Heading into the close, the Dow is up 149 to 11,186, Nasdaq is up 47 points and the S&P 500 is up 17.
The economic data that is most important to the market at this point is jobs. Today the market received a jobless claims report that was much better-than-expected, and confirms an improving trend. The Labor Department reported that jobless claims fell by 34,000 to a seasonally adjusted rate of 407,000 for the week ended November 20. This is the lowest level since July 2008.
In addition to a solid unemployment report, personal income and spending both rose nicely in October. Personal income rose 0.5%, vs. the consensus of 0.4%. Personal spending for the month rose 0.4%, versus the consensus of 0.5%
Consumer confidence also showed a rebound. The Reuters/University of Michigan consumer confidence index for the month of November came in at 71.6, vs. the consensus of 69.5. October's reading came in at 69.3.
While jobs, spending and confidence showed improving signs, housing remains weak. Today, new home sales showed an unexpected drop of 8.1 percent to 283,000. This was sharply below the 310,000 rate economists had expected.
Durable good also showed a more concerning trend, with orders falling 3.3% in October, versus the of a flat reading.
Heading into the close, the Dow is up 149 to 11,186, Nasdaq is up 47 points and the S&P 500 is up 17.
The economic data that is most important to the market at this point is jobs. Today the market received a jobless claims report that was much better-than-expected, and confirms an improving trend. The Labor Department reported that jobless claims fell by 34,000 to a seasonally adjusted rate of 407,000 for the week ended November 20. This is the lowest level since July 2008.
In addition to a solid unemployment report, personal income and spending both rose nicely in October. Personal income rose 0.5%, vs. the consensus of 0.4%. Personal spending for the month rose 0.4%, versus the consensus of 0.5%
Consumer confidence also showed a rebound. The Reuters/University of Michigan consumer confidence index for the month of November came in at 71.6, vs. the consensus of 69.5. October's reading came in at 69.3.
While jobs, spending and confidence showed improving signs, housing remains weak. Today, new home sales showed an unexpected drop of 8.1 percent to 283,000. This was sharply below the 310,000 rate economists had expected.
Durable good also showed a more concerning trend, with orders falling 3.3% in October, versus the of a flat reading.
Serious News for Serious Traders! Try StreetInsider.com Premium Free!
You May Also Be Interested In
- Wall St opens lower as Meta Platforms, economic data weigh
- Dollar drop does not look too sustainable - ING
- Fisker (FSR) files form 10-K, sees more job cuts, reiterates going concern doubts
Create E-mail Alert Related Categories
General News, Market CheckRelated Entities
New Home Sales, Standard & Poor's, Consumer Confidence Index, Personal Income/SpendingSign up for StreetInsider Free!
Receive full access to all new and archived articles, unlimited portfolio tracking, e-mail alerts, custom newswires and RSS feeds - and more!
