Investor focus remains on Greece
U.S. stocks ended Tuesday's choppy session slightly higher on 23 June 2015. Equity indices held modest gains at the start amid continued optimism that Greece will be able to come to terms with its creditors. In addition, better than expected economic reports for the eurozone contributed to the upbeat sentiment overseas.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 24.76 points, or 0.1%, to 18,144.54. The Nasdaq Composite gained 6.12 points, or 0.1% to 5,160.09, closing at a record level for the second consecutive session. The S&P 500 eked out a gain of 1.41 points, or 0.1%, to settle at 2,124.27.
Once the U.S. session got underway, the S&P 500 held a four-point gain, but surrendered that advance just one hour into the session as heavily-weighted sectors like technology, industrials, and consumer staples weighed. The top-weighted technology sector was able to erase the majority of its loss before the final hour, but chipmakers struggled into the afternoon.
Commodity markets traders also got some bearish Fed speak on Tuesday. Federal Reserve Governor Jerome Powell said the U.S. central bank will raise interest rates in September and again in December, if his economic growth projections prove accurate. He then said there is a 50-50 chance his economic forecast will pan out. San Francisco Fed President John Williams also recently predicted two Fed rate increases yet this year. The past several years of easy U.S. monetary policy have mostly worked in favor of the precious metals market bulls.
A batch of U.S. economic data released Tuesday had little impact on the commodities. Data released early Tuesday showing that U.S. durable-goods orders fell more than expected in May. Weaker data could see the Fed delay delivery of its first interest-rate hike in nearly 10 years.
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On a related note, the Dollar Index spiked 1.1% with the greenback jumping 1.6% against the euro.
Economic data included Durable Orders, FHFA Housing Price Index, and New Home Sales. Durable goods orders declined 1.8% in May after declining a downwardly revised 1.5% (from -1.0%) in April while the consensus expected a decline of 0.5% Excluding transportation, durable goods orders increased 0.5% in May after a 0.3% decline in April (revised from -0.2%) while the consensus expected an increase of 0.6%.
The FHFA Housing Price Index for April rose 0.3%, which followed an unrevised increase of 0.3% in March. New home sales hit their highest level since February 2008, increasing 2.2% in May to 546,000 from an upwardly revised 534,000 (from 517,000) in April while the consensus expected a reading of 525,000.
Tomorrow, the weekly MBA Mortgage Index will be released at 7:00 ET while the third estimate of Q1 GDP will be reported at 8:30 ET (consensus -0.2%).
Crude oil futures settled near a two-week high on Tuesday, 23 June 2015 with expectations for a weekly decline in U.S. crude supplies and a U.S. plan to help Europe defend against security threats, which highlighted U.S. tensions with Russia.
August crude tacked on 63 cents, or 1 %, to settle at $61.01 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange after posting losses earlier in the session to tap an intraday low of $59.55.
Bullion metals finished lower on Tuesday, 23 June 2015 at Comexas expectations Greece could strike a deal with its creditors and avoid default helped dull the metal's safe-haven appeal and sent prices to their lowest settlement in more than two weeks. Strong daily gains in the U.S. dollar index also emboldened the sellers in gold and silver today.
August gold fell $7.50, or 0.6%, to settle at $1,176.60 an ounce on Comex that was the lowest finish since 8 June 2015.
July silver lost 40.5 cents, or 2.5%, to $15.737 an ounce, with prices settling at their lowest since late April.
Today's participation was below average with fewer than 700 million shares changing hands at the NYSE floor.
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