The major U.S. indexes were uniformly strong on Monday, carrying over Friday’s bullishness into the new week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added as much as 400 points during the day, while the S&P 500 and the NASDAQ both benefited from a rally in Technology sector stocks. Indices traded into the red zone on Tuesday with stocks dipping on a variety of economic news. Durable goods orders slipped in January, as orders for goods fell 3.7%, marking the largest decrease in six months, and well beyond economists’ expectations for a lesser decline of 2.5%. The Conference Board’s Consumer Confidence index ticked up to a 17-year high in February, jumping to 130.8 from 125.4 in January. Midweek, both the Dow and S&P 500 closed lower and snapped their 10-month winning streaks. In economic news, fourth-quarter gross domestic product was revised to a reading of 2.5% growth, matching expectations. This was down just slightly from the prior reading of 2.6%. On another note, pending-home sales dipped in January. Sales fell 4.7% to 104.6, marking the lowest reading since October 2014. Additionally, the Energy Information Administration data showed crude oil inventories increased by three million barrels last week, marking a larger-than-expected jump in oil reserves. For the session, oil prices dipped 1.1% to settle at $62.29 a barrel. Stocks continued their slip Thursday amid investor concerns over new steel and aluminum tariffs announced by President Trump. Trump’s pronouncements of a tariff of 25% on steel imports and 10% on aluminum imports were enough to send stocks tumbling on both Thursday and Friday morning. Department of Labor data showed new claims fell last week by 10,000 to 210,000. The result marks a 49-year low for first-time claims. Looking elsewhere, the ISM manufacturing index reading came in at 60.8 for February, up from 59.1 in January, and exceeded the consensus forecast of 58.7. Indices ended trading with mixed moves on Friday. The Dow shed some points, while the S&P 500 and NASDAQ stepped up. In the second consumer reading for the week, the University of Michigan’s consumer sentiment index for February jumped four points to 99.7.
