Stocks Turn Higher After New Home Sales and Durable Goods Orders Rise

Barry Adams
27 Jun, 2023
New York City

Stocks turned higher after falling sharply on Monday and investors digested latest economic data. 

Durable goods orders rose more than expected and new home sales also advanced. 

Durable goods orders expanded in May 1.7%, faster than 1.2% in April, the Commerce Department reported Tuesday. 

Excluding transportation equipment orders, durable goods orders rose 0.6% in May after dropping by a revised 0.6% in April.

Excluding defense orders, which declined 14.7%, durable goods orders rose 3%.  

New home sales jumped 12.2% to 763,000 on a seasonally adjusted basis, U.S. Census Bureau reported Tuesday. 

The annual rate jumped to a high not seen since February of last year and increased 20% from a year ago when the annual rate estimate was 636,000. 

The median sales price of new houses sold in May was $416,300 and the average sales price was $487,300 compared to $450,700 and $521,500 respectively a year ago. 

Home sales in the Northeast increased 17.6% to 40,000, in the West rose 17.4% to 175,000, in the Midwest increased 4.1% to 77,000 and in the South jumped 11.3% to 471,000. 

 

U.S. Indexes & Yields 

The S&P 500 index increased 0.4% to 4,343.69 and the Nasdaq Composite rose 0.5% to 13,403.09.  

The yield on 2-year Treasury notes increased to 4.69%, 10-year Treasury notes inched lower to 3.71% and 30-year Treasury bonds edged down to 3.82%. 

Crude oil increased $0.15 to $69.20 a barrel and natural gas prices decreased 3 cents to $2.75 a thermal unit. 

 

U.S. Stock Movers

Lordstown Motors Corp plunged 33.8% to $1.79 after the U.S. electric truck maker filed for bankruptcy protection. 

Separately, the company also sued Taiwan-based Foxconn for a financing deal that fell apart. 

Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc dropped 8.9% to $28.97 after the pharmacy retail chain reported lower-than-expected fiscal third quarter earnings. 

The company  also lowered its full-year earnings outlook.  

Home builders continued it extend gains after new home sales rose more than expected in May. 

PulteGroup, Inc advanced 2.7% to $78.06, Toll Brothers added 2.5% to $77.80 and NVR Inc gained 2% to $6,270.11. 

Energy stocks were in focus after crude extended this year's loss. 

Exxon Mobil decreased 0.4% to $103.05, Chevron Corp declined 0.1% to $153.99 and Hess Corp fell 0.8% to $133.99. 

Tech stocks were under pressure on the persistent worries of rate hike at the next meeting. 

Meta Platforms increased 2% to $284.07, Alphabet Inc declined 0.6% to $116.95 and Microsoft Inc increased 0.3% to $330.85. 

Google's parent Alphabet was under pressure after UBS and Bernstein downgraded the stock on the worries of rising competition from AI-powered chat bots.