Stock Market Update

The S&P 500 futures are up five points and are trading 0.2% above fair value, the Nasdaq 100 futures are up 35 points and are trading 0.2% above fair value, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average futures are down 64 points and are trading 0.1% below fair value.

New orders for durable goods declined 2.2% month-over-month in December (Briefing.com consensus 0.4%) following a downwardly revised 2.0% month-over-month decline (from -1.1%) in November. Excluding transportation, durable goods orders increased 0.3% (Briefing.com consensus 0.5%) following a downwardly revised 0.2% decline (from -0.1%) in November.

The key takeaway from the report, though, is the understanding that new orders for nondefense capital goods excluding aircraft -- a proxy for business spending -- were up 0.5% on the heels of a 0.9% increase in November, thereby softening the disappointment of the headline number.