Stock Market Update

[BRIEFING.COM] The major averages hover under their opening highs with the S&P 500 currently up 0.2%

The modest gains follow yesterday's bullish reaction to the news of a ceasefire between Israel and Iran. In a NATO press conference, President Trump reiterated that the Iranian nuclear sites that the U.S. struck over the weekend had been "completely obliterated" despite conflicting reports yesterday on the extent of the damage.

The energy sector (+0.1%) entered positive territory for the day due in part to a rebound in oil prices with WTI crude up $0.77, or 1.2% to $65.17 per barrel.

Taking a closer look at today's new home sales data, new home sales declined 13.7% month-over-month in May to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 623,000 units (Briefing.com consensus 700,000) from a downwardly revised 722,000 (from 743,000) in April. That was the weakest pace of sales since October 2024. On a year-over-year basis, new home sales were down 6.3%.

The key takeaway from the report is that there is an ample supply of new homes for sale, yet overall sales were weak in May, with high prices and high mortgage rates crimping demand.

• The median sales price increased 3.0% yr/yr to $426,600, while the average sales price increased 4.6% to $522,200.
• New home sales month-over-month/year-over-year by region:Northeast (+32.1%/+48.0%); Midwest (-7.1%/-3.7%); South (-21.0%/-15.5%); and West (-5.4%/+8.9%).
• At the current sales pace, the supply of new homes for sale stood at 9.8 months, versus 8.3 months in April and 8.5 months in the year-ago period.
• The percentage of new homes sold for $399,999 or less accounted for 44% of new homes sold versus 47% in April. Homes priced between $400,000 and $799,999 accounted for 47% of new homes sold versus 43% in April. New homes priced at $800,000 or over accounted for 10% of sales in May versus 10% in April.