The Standard & Poor’s 500 index (SPY) and Dow Jones Industrial Average (DIA) are both up about 1.8% right now.
Relief over a deal in DC plays a part, though we should all pause to consider that we may well live through all the hype, hoopla and fear again in less than two months with the debt ceiling negotiations.
While it also helps�that it’s Jan. 2�(the markets usually rise on this date),�the good mood on Wall Street has doubtless been helped by positive data coming out about the US economy.
Most notably, the Institute for Supply Management’s data shows an expansion in manufacturing and uptick in employment last month:
The ISM’s manufacturing-purchasing-managers index increased to 50.7 in December from 49.5 in November. A reading above 50 indicates expanding activity.
Economists surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires expected the December PMI to improve to 50.5.
Earlier Wednesday, data provider Markit said its own U.S. factory index increased to 54.0 in December. That was up from 52.8 in November and the highest reading since May.
And that’s not all: Bloomberg reported earlier that we saw healthy auto sales in December:
Car and light truck sales in the U.S. probably rose 9.8 percent in December, according to a Bloomberg survey of analysts. That would cap a third-straight annual gain of at least 10 percent, the first such industry streak since 1973.
�It sure feels a lot better to be selling cars today than a few years ago,� Geoffrey Pohanka, president of the Pohanka Automotive Group, said in a telephone interview. �The age of the fleet and the attractiveness of a lot of cars that are being designed now are going to help sustain sales going forward.�
As I wrote on Monday, these numbers look so good partly because the preceding years were so bad. But even so, it’s evidence of a what’s hopefully a sustained improvement economy. If politicians can stay out of the way, of course.
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