EQUITY MARKETS

US

S&P500 +0.25% (2,263.79) ;NASDAQ +0.47% (5,462.69) ;DJIA +0.46% (19,933.81)

This week’s reports:

November’s CB Leading Indicator was flat versus October’s +0.1% m/m.
December’s Markit PMI Composite (prelim.) fell to 53.7 from November’s 54.9. Markit Services PMI (prelim.) fell to 53.4 from November’s 54.6.
November’s Personal Spending rose by 0.2% from October’s upwardly revised +0.4%. Per-sonal Income was flat versus October’s downwardly revised +0.5%.
December’s Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index rose to 98.2 from November’s 98.
November’s New Home Sales rose to an annual pace of 0.592M from October’s pace of 0.563M. Existing Home Sales rose to an annual pace of 5.61M from October’s pace of 5.57M.
November’s Durable Goods Orders fell 4.6% from October’s +4.6%. Durable Goods Orders ex. Transportation rose 0.5% from October’s +0.8%.
Initial Jobless Claims for the week ending December 16th rose by 21K to 275K. Continuing Jobless Claims for the week ending December 9th rose by 15K to 2,036K.
US equities rose in light trading before the Christmas holiday, with gains in health care shares outweighing declines in consumer-discretionary and energy companies.
Financial markets showed little movement on the last trading day before the Christmas holidays as investors assess the post-election rally that’s added trillions to the value of global equities and lifted the dollar to a multiyear high.