Stock Market Update

The stock market is poised for a slightly lower opening following yesterday's retreat from Friday's rally. 

Headlines this morning largely revolve around President Trump's firing of Fed Governor Cook amid mortgage fraud allegations, with Ms. Cook insisting she will continue her duties.

On the trade front, President Trump signaled potential new trade actions last night, threatening tariffs on countries with digital service taxes and cautioning that rare-earth magnet imports from China could face a 200% tariff if exports do not increase.

Durable orders were down 2.8% month-over-month in July (Briefing.com consensus -3.5%) after a revised 9.4% drop (from -9.3%) in June. Excluding transportation, durable goods orders were up 1.1% month-over-month (Briefing.com consensus 0.1%) after increasing a revised 0.3% (from 0.2%) in June.

The key takeaway from the report is that nondefense capital goods orders excluding aircraft—a proxy for business investment—increased 1.1% in July after falling 0.6% in June, making this a generally positive report.

Just released, the S&P Case-Shiller Home Price Index was up 2.1% in June (Briefing.com consensus 2.8%) after increasing 2.8% in May.

The FHFA Housing Price Index was down 0.2% in June (Briefing.com consensus -0.1%) after a revised reading of -0.1% (from -0.2%) in May.