Stocks Power Higher Helped By Positive Housing, Confidence Data
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Stocks continued their winning streak Tuesday on the back of positive economic data on housing and consumer confidence.
At 10:30AM ET, the Dow is up 216 points to 15,520, the S&P 500 is up 24 points and the Nasdaq is up 54.
Today's S&P/Case-Shiller report showed that home prices rose 1.2% in the first quarter and are up 10.9% from last year.
"Home prices continued to climb," says David M. Blitzer, Chairman of the Index Committee at S&P Dow Jones Indices. "Home prices in all 20 cities posted annual gains for the third month in a row. Twelve of the 20 saw prices rise at double-digit annual growth. The National Index and the 10- and 20-City Composites posted their highest annual returns since 2006.
"Phoenix again had the largest annual increase at 22.5% followed by San Francisco with 22.2% and Las Vegas with 20.6%. Miami and Tampa, the eastern end of the Sunbelt, were softer with annual gains of 10.7% and 11.8%. The weakest annual price gains were seen in New York (+2.6%), Cleveland (+4.8%) and Boston (+6.7%); even these numbers are quite substantial.
"Other housing market data reported in recent weeks confirm these strong trends: housing starts and permits, sales of new home and existing homes continue to trend higher. At the same time, the larger than usual share of multi-family housing, a large number of homes still in some stage of foreclosure and buying-to-rent by investors suggest that the housing recovery is not complete."
The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index jumped to 76.2 in May, up from 69 in April and well ahead of an expected reading on 71.2.
Says Lynn Franco, Director of Economic Indicators at The Conference Board: "Consumer Confidence posted another gain this month and is now at a five-year high (Feb. 2008, Index 76.4). Consumers’ assessment of current business and labor-market conditions was more positive and they were considerably more upbeat about future economic and job prospects. Back-to-back monthly gains suggest that consumer confidence is on the mend and may be regaining the traction it lost due to the fiscal cliff, payroll-tax hike, and sequester."
At 10:30AM ET, the Dow is up 216 points to 15,520, the S&P 500 is up 24 points and the Nasdaq is up 54.
Today's S&P/Case-Shiller report showed that home prices rose 1.2% in the first quarter and are up 10.9% from last year.
"Home prices continued to climb," says David M. Blitzer, Chairman of the Index Committee at S&P Dow Jones Indices. "Home prices in all 20 cities posted annual gains for the third month in a row. Twelve of the 20 saw prices rise at double-digit annual growth. The National Index and the 10- and 20-City Composites posted their highest annual returns since 2006.
"Phoenix again had the largest annual increase at 22.5% followed by San Francisco with 22.2% and Las Vegas with 20.6%. Miami and Tampa, the eastern end of the Sunbelt, were softer with annual gains of 10.7% and 11.8%. The weakest annual price gains were seen in New York (+2.6%), Cleveland (+4.8%) and Boston (+6.7%); even these numbers are quite substantial.
"Other housing market data reported in recent weeks confirm these strong trends: housing starts and permits, sales of new home and existing homes continue to trend higher. At the same time, the larger than usual share of multi-family housing, a large number of homes still in some stage of foreclosure and buying-to-rent by investors suggest that the housing recovery is not complete."
The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index jumped to 76.2 in May, up from 69 in April and well ahead of an expected reading on 71.2.
Says Lynn Franco, Director of Economic Indicators at The Conference Board: "Consumer Confidence posted another gain this month and is now at a five-year high (Feb. 2008, Index 76.4). Consumers’ assessment of current business and labor-market conditions was more positive and they were considerably more upbeat about future economic and job prospects. Back-to-back monthly gains suggest that consumer confidence is on the mend and may be regaining the traction it lost due to the fiscal cliff, payroll-tax hike, and sequester."
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