Orders for durable goods and a private payroll report were surprisingly good.
The most encouraging sign came from consumers, whose spending actually rose by 2.2% at an annual rate, led by rising purchases of cars and other durable goods after a disastrous 2008.
ECONOMIST: The American economy: Better than it looks? | The
Whereas Microsoft regularly discontinues support for its out-dated Windows versions, some durable goods like a washing machines may last maybe twenty years beyond the point where the manufacturer is still in business or any cloud services they had will still be running, he said.
Following a day that saw negative US Durable Goods Order data and a less-than-optimistic Fed Beige Book report, the combination of euro strength, dollar weakness was no surprise.
Despite better than expected jobless claims numbers (which fell to 359, 000 while estimates called for 375, 000), GDP data and durable goods orders showed a steeper than expected decline.
FORBES: Spanish Budget Boosts Stocks: $51B Austerity Cuts Pave Way For Bailout
U.S. durable goods orders rose a strong 4.6% in December, which boosted the U.S. stock market and in turn added some more selling pressure to the gold and silver markets.
U.S. durable goods orders fell a whopping 13% in August, while the latest estimate for second-quarter U.S. gross domestic product saw the growth rate shaved by 0.4%, to just 1.3% growth.
FORBES: P.M. Kitco Metals Roundup: Gold Surges on Spain Budget News, Ideas of Fresh China Stimulus
The overall decline in durable goods was exacerbated by a 48.2 percent fall in commercial aircraft orders.
Also from the Commerce Department, durable goods orders rose for a second straight month, up 3 percent in December.
The higher durable goods orders points to a modest recovery in manufacturing, lending some optimism that the still high 9% unemployment rate will continue to fall.
FORBES: Jobless Claims Drop Alongside Jump In Manufacturing Orders
Wall Street started the day with hopes of recovery after the U.S. Commerce Department reported durable goods orders rose by a surprising 1.8% rate in May, doubling the 0.6% jump analysts had predicted.
After opening lower on the back of renewed concerns about Greece (btw, does anybody else wish that Greece would just default already and get it over with?) and a fairly ugly Durable Goods report, the indices looked like they were breaking down on a chart-basis.
FORBES: The Upgrade Parade Continues Despite Lackluster Economic Data
Would the Fed use a quick depression as a cure to devalue the over-priced durable goods by raising the interest rate as a catalyst to thwart off the irrational exuberance since the economy is doomed to the Self-induced Paralysis?
FORBES: Bill Gross Says Bernanke Is Ripping A Band-Aid Off A Partially Healed Scab
The Furniture Village chain - which, as a vendor of big-ticket durable goods, is particularly sensitive to consumer frugality - reported almost a thousand transactions at its 40 stores by mid-afternoon on Boxing Day, putting it on course to beat the 1, 200 sales it closed on the same day in 2011.
Then Monday morning, another report showed that U.S. durable-goods orders rose by a much higher-than-forecast 4.6% in December.
The Commerce Department also reported that orders for non-transportation durable goods in January rose by a stronger-than-expected 1.9% (the most in a year).
Though the better-than-expected durable goods figures gave Wall Street a boost, Wednesday's economic data ultimately became mixed after the Commerce Department reported that new home sales fell short of expectations, dropping 0.6% in May to a rate of 342, 000.
Separate data on Tuesday from the Commerce Department was more positive, showing a rise in durable goods sales.
MarketWatch expects a drop in April durable goods orders of 3%, versus the 4.1% rise in March.
The week ended with a slight increase in durable-goods orders, while consumer sentiment continues to drop as concerns over the fiscal cliff mount.
FORBES: The Week Ahead: Will 2013 Be Another Double-Digit Year?
We also learned today that the advance report of durable goods orders declined in August, largely as a result of a decline in orders for transportation equipment.
It was also reported that durable goods orders fell 0.1% in August versus a gain of 4.1% in July.
FORBES: Stocks, Economy In Inexorable Grip Of Bear Market, Recession
Durable goods increased 8.5 percent, in contrast to a decrease of 0.2 percent.
The drop was due largely to a reduction in the output of consumer durable goods, official data showed Friday.
Aircraft orders were a key driver behind the rise in durable goods.
Nabi says producer durable goods, in particular, will continue to benefit from a robust capital spending cycle, which Nabi expects will be more extended as it catches up with the spending lag in the past several years.
FORBES: Ray of Optimism: Energy, Durable-Goods, And Insurance Stocks Are Irresistibly Inexpensive
May durable goods orders were revised down slightly, as well, to a 1.5% gain.
The first report was a big drop in growth for both the Durable Goods and Core Durable Goods which came in at -1.0% and -0.6% respectively.
应用推荐