March 25th 2014 – Stocks Jump With Consumer Confidence

U.S. stocks climbed on Tuesday, with equities bouncing back after two days of losses, as investors embraced data that had consumer confidence hitting a six-year high in March.

The Conference Board reported consumer confidence rose to 82.3 in March, up from 78.3 the month before; another report from the Commerce Department had new-home sales slipping 3.3 percent in February. And, the S&P/Case-Shiller index of property values in 20 cities climbed 13.2 percent from January 2013.

Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia President Charles Plosser told CNBC Tuesday Fed members found were surprised by the market’s reaction to recent policy statements, saying they tried to say quite explicitly that the central bank’s view had not changed.

European markets finished higher. Asian stock markets mostly ended lower, though the moves down were modest.

Wednesday: 2 a.m.: Fed’s Bullard speaks, 7 a.m.: Mortgage applications, 8:30 a.m.: Durable goods orders for February, 9:45 a.m.: PMI services flash, 10:30 a.m.: Oil inventories, 1 p.m.: Five-year note auction

News Sources:  CNBC and CNN Money

My Market View:

Philadelphia President Charles Plosser comments and consumer confidence numbers where cheered in the markets.  It was looking very dire at midday at the lows of the day.  Really needed that good news.  What now will depend on the data tomorrow.  We are due a bounce back in my opinion, particularly in the Nasdaq, so I will be looking for the market to recover and close higher for the week again.