16:20 ET Dow +114.35 at 15024.49, Nasdaq +25.64 at 3401.87, S&P +9.94 at 1613.2 :[BRIEFING.COM] The S&P 500 settled higher by 0.6% as nine of ten sectors posted gains.
Equities were off to the races at the sound of the opening bell, aided by today's personal income report, which pointed to an increase of 0.5% in May. The Briefing.com consensus expected personal income to rise 0.2%.
Meanwhile, personal spending increased 0.3% in May and nearly reversed the entire 0.3% decline that occurred in April. The consensus expected spending levels to increase 0.4%.
In addition, the core PCE price index increased 0.1% in May. That was up from no growth in April and exactly what the consensus expected.
Stocks received a secondary boost from the pending home sales report as May sales rose 6.7% (1.5% consensus).
The S&P notched its high of 1620 shortly after the market digested the latest housing data point. However, the index was unable to rise above that level as the 20- and 50-day moving averages served as resistance at today's high.
Today's housing data provided homebuilders with a significant boost. Although the report focused on pending home sales, strong demand in that market suggests healthy demand for new homes as well. The iShares Dow Jones US Home Construction ETF (ITB 22.75, +0.54) traded on its lows before the housing data sent the ETF to its best levels.
Most other cyclical groups also registered solid gains with financials settling in the lead, sporting a gain of 1.3%.
Financials were closely followed by this month's top performing group, telecom services. The high-yielding sector took a significant hit when Treasury yields began their climb in May. However, recent days have seen the sector rally even with yields not far from their recent highs.
The telecom space ended higher by 0.9% to extend its June advance to 2.6%. Meanwhile, the second-best sector of the month, consumer staples, climbed 0.9%, padding its June return to 0.4%.
On the downside, the materials space shed 0.1%. The sector was pressured by a 2.1% loss in Monsanto (MON 98.75, -2.09). Interestingly, the Market Vectors Gold Miners ETF (GDX 22.79, +0.57) gained 2.6% despite continued weakness in gold futures, which slumped 2.6% to $1198.00 per troy ounce. This marked the first time the yellow metal traded south of the 1200 level since August 2010.
Treasuries saw some intraday weakness but ended near their highs after today's strong 7-yr auction. The benchmark 10-yr yield slipped six basis points to 2.511%.
Looking at today's remaining economic data, the initial claims level fell from an upwardly revised 355,000 (from 354,000) for the week ending June 15 to 346,000 for the week ending June 22. The Briefing.com consensus expected the initial claims level to fall to 345,000.
Over the past several weeks, the initial claims level has followed a soft sawtooth path with the four-week moving average remaining nearly flat the entire time. The claims data suggest that labor market conditions have not materially changed during this time.
Tomorrow, June Chicago PMI and the final reading of the June Michigan Consumer Sentiment Survey will cross the wires at 9:45 and 9:55 ET, respectively. ..NYSE Adv/Dec 2608/469. ..NASDAQ Adv/Dec 1982/525. |
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