Strong economic reports push US stocks higher

US stocks ended sharply higher on Tuesday, 25 June 2013. Today's session began on a positive note as global markets shook off some of their Monday losses. U.S. stocks rose sharply on Tuesday as Wall Street cheered upbeat economic data showing increases in durable-goods orders, new-home sales and consumer confidence.

For the day, the Dow Jones Industrial Average on Tuesday climbed 100.75 points, or 0.7%, to end at 14,760.31. The S&P 500 index added 14.94 points, or 1%, to 1,588.03. The Nasdaq Composite climbed 27.13 points, or 0.8%, to 3,347.89.

Twenty six out of thirty Dow components ended in the green. All of the 10 major sectors ended in positive territory. Telecommunications and financials posted the biggest sector gains.

There was a bit more risk appetite in the world market place on Tuesday, partly due to news China central bank officials said the cash crunch in China has been brought under control and the recent volatility in its financial markets was just temporary. Worries the financial system in the world's second-largest economy could seize up had the entire world market place jittery the past few days.

Elsewhere, most European markets registered gains, but Italy's MIB fell 0.4% amid comments from an analyst at Italy's second largest bank, Mediobanca. The bank representative said the country's macroeconomic outlook has not improved and a bailout request will become inevitable. Italy's benchmark 10-yr yield rose seven basis points to 4.87%.

The U.S. dollar index, which weighs the strength of the dollar against a basket of six other currencies, rose by 0.2% on Tuesday.

Among economic data expected at Wall Street, new home sales topped expectations increasing from an upwardly revised 466,000 (from 454,000) in April to 476,000 in May. The consensus pegged new home sales at 460,000.

Durable goods orders increased 3.6% for a second consecutive month in May. The consensus expected durable goods orders to increase 3.0%. As expected, a large portion of the gain came from the transportation sector. Defense and nondefense aircraft orders increased 39.2% in May after increasing 23.6% in April. Surprisingly, the gains in durables did not end with the transportation sector. Excluding transportation, durable goods orders rose 0.7% in May after increasing 1.7% in April. The consensus expected these orders to fall 0.5%.

The Conference Board's Consumer Confidence Index rose to 81.4 in June, up from 74.3 in May and at the highest point since January 2008. The consensus expected consumer confidence to weaken slightly and drop to 75.0.

Among major stocks under focus, Walgreen slipped 6% after the drugstore chain reported fiscal third-quarter earnings below expectations. Lennar shares rose 0.7% after the home builder reported fiscal second-quarter earnings that topped Wall Street's expectations. First Solar rallied 7.8%, the top gainer in the S&P 500.

Bullion metal prices ended mixed on Tuesday, 25 June 2013 at Comex. Comex gold futures ended little down while and silver futures prices ended the U.S. day session higher. A string of positive economic data reinforced expectations the Federal Reserve will begin to slow the pace of monetary stimulus, lifting the dollar and sending government bond yields higher.

Crude-oil prices ended moderately lower on Tuesday, 25 June 2013 at Nymex. Prices fell following a rising US dollar despite a good batch of economic reports hitting the wires on Tuesday. Light and sweet crude for August ended lower by $0.20 (0.2%) at $94.98 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange on Tuesday.

Gold for August delivery ended lower by $2 (0.1%) at $1,275.1 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange on Tuesday. July silver ended higher by $0.04 (0.2%) at $19.53 an ounce on Tuesday.

On Tuesday, 810 million shares traded on the New York Stock Exchange. Composite volume topped 3.6 billion.

Indian ADRs ended higher on Tuesday. In the IT space, Infosys was up 2.7% and Wipro was up 2.3%. In the Banking space, HDFC Bank was up 3.7% and ICICI Bank was up 1.7%. In other space, Tata Motors was up 2.6%, and Sterlite was down 0.2%.

For tomorrow, the weekly MBA Mortgage Index will be reported at 7:00 ET while the third estimate of first quarter GDP will be released at 8:30 ET.

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