Commodities, Santa Claus rally, health care, durable goods, early close – Vialoux
U.S. equity index futures are higher again this morning. S&P 500 futures are up 2 points in pre-opening trade. Weakness in the U.S. Dollar supported early gains. Commodities priced in U.S. Dollars including gold, silver, crude oil and copper moved higher.
History is repeating itself. Equity markets have a history of moving higher on Christmas Eve day. Since 1900, the Dow Jones Industrial Average has recorded a gain 70% of the time. The Santa Claus rally continues.
U.S. Health Care stocks are unchanged despite the Senate’s passage of the Health Care bill this morning.
Index futures moved slightly higher following release of economic news at 8:30 AM EST. Weekly jobless claims fell 28,000 to 452,000, the lowest level since September 2008. Consensus for November Durable Goods Orders was a gain of 0.4% versus a decline of 0.6% in October. Actual was a gain of 0.2%. Excluding transportation, consensus was a gain of 1.0% versus a decline of 1.3% in October. Actual was a gain of 2.0%.
U.S. and Canadian equity markets are closed today at 1:00 PM EST for the Christmas holiday. Canadian equity markets also are closed on Monday for the Boxing Day holiday.
