Stock Market Update

[BRIEFING.COM] The major indices moved lower in recent trading, leading the Nasdaq Composite (-0.1%) to join the S&P 500 (-0.3%) and Dow Jones Industrial Average (-0.6%) in negative territory. 

Some mega cap names fell from initial highs as the Nasdaq moved lower. Apple (AAPL 254.18, -0.32, -0.1%), which traded up as much as 0.5%, Microsoft (MSFT 434.06, -2.54, -0.6%), which traded up as much as 0.2%, Amazon.com (AMZN 224.55, -0.33, -0.2%), which traded up as much as 0.2%, and Alphabet (GOOG 192.58, -0.38, -0.2%), which traded up as much as 1.3%. 

The Conference Board's Consumer Confidence Index dropped to 104.7 in December (Briefing.com consensus 113.5) from an upwardly revised 112.8 (from 111.7) in November.

The key takeaway from the report is that consumers were substantially less optimistic about future business conditions and incomes than they were last month.

New home sales increased 5.9% month-over-month in November to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 664,000 units (Briefing.com consensus 670,000) from an upwardly revised 627,000 (from 610,000) in October. On a year-over-year basis, new home sales were up 8.7%.

The key takeaway from the report is that new home sales, which are tabulated when contracts are signed, increased in November with the help of lower selling prices that were needed to help offset affordability constraints driven by rising mortgage rates.