US markets end higher on Monday

28 Feb 2023 Evaluate

The US markets ended higher on Monday as some traders looked to pick up stocks at reduced levels following the steep drop seen last week. However, buying interest waned over the course of the session, as traders continued to express concerns about the outlook for interest rates. Recent economic data has led to worries the Federal Reserve will raise rates more than currently anticipated and hold rates at an elevated level for an extended period. On the sectoral front, oil service stocks turned in a strong performance on the day, driving the Philadelphia Oil Service Index up by 1.4 percent. The strength among oil service stocks came despite a decrease by the price of crude oil, with crude for April delivery falling $0.64 to $75.68 a barrel. Significant strength was also visible among transportation stocks, as reflected by the 1.3 percent gain posted by the Dow Jones Transportation Average.

On the economic data front, the Commerce Department released a report showing a sharp pullback in new orders for durable goods in the month of January. The report said durable goods orders plunged by 4.5 percent in January after surging by a downwardly revised 5.1 percent in December. Street had expected durable goods orders to tumble by 4.0 percent compared to the 5.6 percent spike that had been reported for the previous month. The steep drop by durable goods orders came as orders for transportation equipment plummeted by 13.3 percent in January after soaring by 15.8 percent in December. Meanwhile, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) released a separate report showing pending home sales in the U.S. spiked by much more than expected in the month of January. NAR said its pending home sales index soared by 8.1 percent to 82.5 in January after jumping by 1.1 percent to a downwardly revised 76.3 in December.

Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 72.17 points or 0.22 percent to 32,889.09, Nasdaq surged 72.04 points or 0.63 percent to 11,466.98 and S&P 500 was up by 12.2 points or 0.31 percent to 3,982.24.

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