Stock Market Update

[BRIEFING.COM] The stock market opening to mixed action at the index level. Participation has been light in front of holiday-related closures this week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (-0.5%) and S&P 500 (-0.2%) trade lower and the Nasdaq Composite trades 0.2% higher. Gains in some mega cap names have supported the Nasdaq, but the overall vibe in the market is negative.

Rising market rates have kept buying in check in equities. The 10-yr yield is up four basis points to 4.56% and the 2-yr yield is up three basis points to 4.34%.

Durable goods orders declined 1.1% month-over-month in November (Briefing.com consensus -0.3%) following an upwardly revised 0.8% increase (from 0.2%) in October. Excluding transportation, durable goods orders decreased 0.1% month-over-month (Briefing.com consensus 0.3%) following an upwardly revised 0.2% increase (from 0.1%) in October.

The key takeaway from the report is that it showed a rebound in business spending in November, evidenced by a 0.7% increase in new orders for nondefense capital goods excluding aircraft -- a proxy for business spending -- following a 0.1% decline in October.

New home sales totaled 664,000 in November (Briefing.com consensus 670,000) following a revised count of 627,000 in October (from 610,000).

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