Rising US Stocks look forward to Fresh Records

Fresh records have become the usual story on Wall Street during the first quarter of the year. Accordingly; The US stocks rose on Tuesday as markets looked to continue to rally. The S&P 500 rose nearly 0.3%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average edged higher by roughly 0.2%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite is in the foremost, rising more than 0.3%.

Wall Street took a break from its rally on Monday, with all three major indexes slightly declining. However, a bullish mood is prevailing. On the data front, Durable Goods Orders in the United States rebounded during February, rising 1.4% last month amid increases in transportation equipment and machinery orders. In other economic news, the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller National Home Price Index rose 6% in January from a year ago, up from December’s 5.6% gain.

A fresh reading on US consumer confidence showed consumers are feeling less confident about the future state of the US economy. The Conference Board’s Consumer Confidence Index for March came in at a reading of 104.7, little changed from a revised 104.8 in February. However, the “Expectations Index,” which tracks consumers’ short-term outlook for income, business, and labor market conditions, fell to 73.8 in March from 76.3 last month. Historically, a reading below 80 in that category signals a recession in the coming year.

All of this data serves as appetizers for the main event on Friday, when the government will release the Personal Consumption Expenditures Price Index, otherwise known as PCE.