Market Update
New Home Sales Unexpectedly Rise In October
Brian Turner
23 Nov, 2022
New York City
New home sales rose 7.5% in October from the previous month to an annual pace of 632,000 units and September sales were revised to 588,000 units.
New home sales fell 5.8% from the 671,000 rate a year ago.
Home sales in the Northeast soared 45.7% to 51,000 and in the South increased 16% to 399,000, outpacing the 34.2% decline to 50,000 in the Midwest and 0.8% drop to 132,000 in the West.
The media home price increased to $397,000 and the average home price increased to $544,000.
The seasonally-adjusted estimate of new houses for sale at the end of October was 470,000, representing a supply of 8.9 months at the current sales rate.
Durable Orders Advance 10.9% Annually In October
Brian Turner
23 Nov, 2022
New York City
Durable goods orders rose 1% in October from September when orders rose downwardly revised 0.3%, the U.S. Census Bureau reported Wednesday.
New orders jumped 10.9% from a year ago.
The orders rose the most in four months and the orders data are not adjusted for inflation.
Volatile transportation orders gained 2.1% and military orders jumped 21.7%.
Excluding transportation, orders increased 0.5% and excluding defense, new orders rose 0.8%, on a monthly basis and from a year ago rose 7.3% and 11.0% respectively.
October shipments increased 0.4% from the previous month and jumped 9.7% from a year ago.
Continuing Jobless Claims Rise to 9-month High
Brian Turner
23 Nov, 2022
New York City
Initial jobless claims for the week ending November 19 increased to 240,00, the Department of Labor reported Wednesday.
The claims are adjusted for season factors.
Weekly claims rose 17,000 from the previous week's upwardly revised by 1,000 to 223,000 level.
Continuing claims also increased to 1.551 million, highest since the first week in March.
The advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted, totaled 248,185 in the week ending November 19, an increase of 47,909 or 23.9% from the previous week.
The seasonal factors had expected an increase of 30,554 or 15.3% from the previous week.
There were 253,369 initial claims in the comparable week in 2021.
Stocks Advance Ahead of Fed Minutes, Durable Orders Up 1%
Barry Adams
23 Nov, 2022
New York City
Stocks on Wall Street traded higher ahead of the release of minutes of the Fed's latest rate-setting policy meeting.
Crude oil prices dropped on the worries that China demand may remain depressed after Covid infections surged in China and local authorities imposed stringent lockdowns in several cities including parts of Beijing.
Investors also reviewed the recent price cap announcements from G7 Group on Russian oil.
The S&P 500 index inched up 0.2% to 4,013.06 and the Nasdaq Composite index advanced 0.5% to 11,233.61.
Crude oil declined $3.99 to $76.95 a barrel and natural gas added 46 cents to $7.26 a thermal unit.
The yield on 2-year U.S. Treasury notes traded at 4.50%, 10-year Treasury notes eased to 3.70% and 30-year bonds inched lower to 3.76%.
Durable Goods Orders Rise
Durable goods orders rose 1% in October from September when orders rose downwardly revised 0.3%, the U.S. Census Bureau reported Wednesday.
New orders jumped 10.9% from a year ago.
The orders rose the most in four months and the orders data are not adjusted for inflation.
Volatile transportation orders gained 2.1% and military orders jumped 21.7%.
Excluding transportation, orders increased 0.5% and excluding defense, new orders rose 0.8%, on a monthly basis and from a year ago rose 7.3% and 11.0% respectively.
October shipments increased 0.4% from the previous month and jumped 9.7% from a year ago.
New Home Sales Unexpectedly Rise In October
New home sales rose 7.5% in October from the previous month to an annual pace of 632,000 units and September sales were revised to 588,000 units.
New home sales fell 5.8% from the 671,000 rate a year ago.
Home sales in the Northeast soared 45.7% to 51,000 and in the South increased 16% to 399,000, outpacing the 34.2% decline to 50,000 in the Midwest and 0.8% drop to 132,000 in the West.
The media home price increased to $397,000 and the average home price increased to $544,000.
The seasonally-adjusted estimate of new houses for sale at the end of October was 470,000, representing a supply of 8.9 months at the current sales rate.
Weekly Jobless Claims Up
Initial jobless claims for the week ending November 19 increased to 240,00, the Department of Labor reported Wednesday.
Continuing claims also increased to 1.551 million, highest since the first week in March.
Stock Movers
Autodesk Inc fell 5.6% to $197.16 after the architectural and engineering software developer fell short of expectations for its annual outlook.
Autodesk said third quarter revenue increased 14% to $1.2 billion and net income rose to $198 million from $137 million or 91 cents from 62 cents a year ago.
HP Inc gained 1.1% to $29.71 after the company reported a less-than-expected decline in its latest quarterly sales.
HP said fiscal fourth quarter revenue fell 11.2% to $14.8 billion and net income fell to breakeven from $3.1 billion or $2.71 per share a year ago.
HP said the company plans to cut global staff between 4,000 and 6,000 over the next three years.
Nordstrom Inc declined 5.9% to $21.32 after the luxury retailer reported weaker-than-expected quarterly results.
Nordstrom third quarter revenue eased 2.9% to $3.5 billion and swung to a net loss of $20 m from a profit of $64 m or 13 cents from 39 cents a year ago.
HP Inc said the company plans to cut global staff between 4,000 and 6,000 over the next three years.
22 Nov, 2022
Positive Sentiment Lifts U.S. and Europe Market Indexes
Barry Adams
22 Nov, 2022
New York City
Investors on Wall Street returned to add exposure to stocks after a flood of earnings from retailers were ahead of negative sentiment ahead of the upcoming holiday season.
Comments from Federal Reserve officials also weighed on the bond market as the ongoing 50-75 basis points rate increase debate continued.
Cleveland Federal Reserve President Loretta Mester was the latest to pour cold water on the talks of Fed pausing rates but sounded more supportive of rate hike by at least 50 basis points.
Mester added in an interview with CNBC on Monday that recent inflation data show signs of hope but supportive data over a longer period of time are needed before "we are returning to price stability as soon as we can..
European Indexes Rebound to 3-month High, Natural Gas In Focus
Bridgette Randall
22 Nov, 2022
New York City
European markets closed higher after falling in the previous session driven by higher commodities prices and a sharp reversal in energy prices.
Energy sector stocks led the rebound after natural gas prices soared more than 7% and crude oil prices traded as high as 3%.
Benchmark indexes closed at a 3-month high after investors focused on the latest batch of earnings and natural prices were in focus.
World economies are expected to slow down considerably in 2023, according to the latest report from the OECD.
Global economic growth is expected to slow to 2.2% in 2023 from 3.1% in 2022.
The Paris multilateral agency estimated GDP growth in the eurozone and the U.S. is expected to slow down to 0.5% from 3.3% and 1.8% respectively.
The DAX index increased 0.3% to 14,422.35, the CAC-40 index gained 0.4% to 6,657.53, and the FTSE 100 index added 1.03% to 7,452.84.
The euro held stable at $1.028 and the British pound fetched $1.186.
Natural gas prices rose for the third day more than 4% in a row and prices remained four times ahead of last three-year average.
Russia-based Gazprom said it plans to halt the flow of natural gas through Ukraine as of November 28.
Higher-than-average temperatures in the region have kept natural gas storage near capacity and helped to deal with energy crisis.
Brent crude oil rebounded 1.2% to $88.56 a barrel and TTF natural gas gained 7.2% to 124.10 euros a MWh.
The UK bond yields were in focus after the public sector borrowing surged in October.
Public sector borrowing, excluding banks, rose
Movers: Abercrombie & Fitch, Best Buy, Dell, Dick's Sporting. Dollar Tree, Medtronic, Zoom Video
Scott Peters
22 Nov, 2022
New York City
Abercrombie & Fitch soared 17.2% to $21.40 after the apparel retailer reported stronger-than-expected sales.
The parent of Hollister said third quarter sales declined 3% to $880 million and swung to a net loss of $2.2 million or 4 cents a share from $47 million or 77 cents a year ago.
Best Buy increased 11.4% to $78.82 after the electronics retailer reported a less-than-expected decline in sales.
The retailer said third quarter sales fell 11% to $10.59 billion and net income declined to $277 million or $1.22 a share from $499 million or $2 a share a year ago.
Dell Technologies increased 5.5% to $43.39 after the company reported quarterly results ahead-of-expectations.
Dell said third quarter revenue fell 6% to $24.7 billion and net income plunged 93% to $241 million or 33 cents a share.
In the quarter, services sales increased 6% to $5.8 billion but sales of hardware declined 10% to $18.9 billion from a year ago.
Dick's Sporting Goods rose 7.0% to $114.46 after the retailer lifted its same store outlook for the final quarter of this year.
Dick's said third quarter sales rose 7.7% to $3 billion and net income dropped 28% to $228 million or $2.45 a share from $317 million or $2.78 a year ago.
Dollar Tree declined 8.6% to $150.94 after the deep discount retailer reported better-than-expected sales and earnings.
The retailer said third quarter sales rose 8.1% to $6.9 billion and net income rose 23% to $267 million or $1.20 a share from $216 million or 96 cents a year ago.
Consolidated net sales for the year are now expected in the range of $28.14 billion to $28.28 billion, compared to the previous outlook range of $27.85 billion to $28.10 billion.
Diluted earnings per share for fiscal 2022 are expected to be in the lower half of the company