Stock Market Update

New orders for manufactured durable goods increased 0.9% month-over-month in February (Briefing.com consensus -1.2%) following an upwardly revised 3.3% (from 3.1%) for January. Excluding transportation, durable goods orders rose 0.7% month-over-month (Briefing.com consensus 0.1%) following an upwardly revised 0.1% increase (from 0.0%) in January.

The key takeaway from the report is that durable goods orders were stronger than expected; however, that understanding was diluted by the added realization that there was a downturn in business spending, evidenced by the 0.3% decline in nondefense capital goods orders, excluding aircraft.

The S&P 500 futures are up four point and are trading 0.1% above fair value, the Nasdaq 100 futures are down five points and are trading 0.1% below fair value, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average futures are up 92 points and are trading 0.2% above fair value.