S&P 500 Rises on Durable Goods

The stock market is up again today after yesterday’s sell-off snapped our six-day winning streak. More economic news.

Orders for durable goods rose 2.6% last month. That comes after a 2.1% rise in February.

The strength in March was widespread, led by a 4 percent increase in demand for transportation goods. Orders for commercial aircraft advanced 8.6 percent while demand for motor vehicles and parts rose a more modest 0.4 percent.

Excluding transportation, orders rose a solid 2 percent, the best showing in this category in more than a year.

Orders for primary metals such as steel rose 2 percent while demand for heavy machinery, computers and communications equipment all showed increases.

This morning, the Labor Department said that initial unemployment claims rose to 329,000 last week. The last two reports were exceptionally strong although last week’s report was revised slightly higher. These have been encouraging numbers and it could portend a very positive jobs report next week.

Posted by on April 24th, 2014 at 10:39 am


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