Stock Market Update

The stock market is on track for another higher opening following two solid first sessions of the holiday-shortened week. 

Initial jobless claims for the week ending November 22 decreased by 6,000 to 216,000 (Briefing.com consensus: 225,000). That is the lowest level of initial claims since April. Continuing jobless claims for the week ending November 15 increased by 7,000 to 1.960 million.

The key takeaway from the report is that initial claims filings are nowhere close to a recession-type level and continue to reflect a generally low-firing environment.

Durable goods orders increased 0.5% month-over-month in September (Briefing.com consensus: 0.3%) following an upwardly revised 3.0% increase (from 2.9%) in August. Excluding transportation, durable goods orders rose 0.6% (Briefing.com consensus: 0.2%) following an upwardly revised 0.5% increase (from 0.4%) in August.

The key takeaway from the report is that business spending, viewed through the lens of nondefense capital goods orders excluding aircraft (+0.9%), showed no signs of slowing, keeping pace with the 0.9% increase seen in August and exceeding the 0.7% growth rate in July.