Durable Goods Surprise Leads Market Higher
On Tuesday, the market closed early (1:00 p.m.) ahead of the Christmas holiday, and volume was below average. The market opened flat, but it crept up during the day and closed at the highs of the day in narrow range trading.
The S&P and Nasdaq have been up 4 out of the last 5 days. Advancers beat decliners by a 2 to 1 ratio, and up volume outpaced down volume a ratio of over 3 to 1. The Nasdaq closed up +6 points (0.16%) and the S&P finished the day up +5 points (+0.29%).
A bullish piece of economic news was also released Tuesday which likely helped the bullish sentiment. The Commerce Department reported that durable goods orders rose by 3.5% for November, a sign of strength in the manufacturing sector of the economy. This is positive news for the economy as we head into 2014.