Stocks are broadly higher after a raft of economic data this morning.
The Dow is up 34 points at 10,231 with the S&P up half a point at 1,097. The Conference Board’s consumer confidence index rose this month to 55.9 from 53.6 in December, the third consecutive monthly rise, even though the number of pessimists still outweighs optimists, the Board reported. The number of people surveyed who think things are better for them at the moment improved, but those who think business conditions will improve in the near term declined.
The Case Shiller Home Price Index of the top 20 cities rose 0.2% in November, below the 0.3% rise that had been expected, though the broader index was in line with expectations. Same-store sales for last week were weaker than expected, dipping 2.5% from the prior week versus an expected 2% rise, according to the ICSC Goldman Sachs survey. The survey from Redbook out this morning was a little more positive, but suggested food and drugs were the main consumable last week.
Fueling optimism, perhaps, Reuters cites International Monetary Fund representatives’ comments that global growth is not fueling any dangerous bubbles — yet. Jorg Decressin, IMF’s chief of world economic studies, told reporters that “Asset prices in some specific sectors in some specific regions of China may be frothy but there is certainly no widespread asset bubble,” according to a Reuters report.
No comments:
Post a Comment