Stocks Mixed After Disappointing Durable Goods Orders Report

Initial Jobless Claims Decline To 406,000

The U.S. has just released Initial Jobless Claims and Continuing Jobless Claims reports.

Initial Jobless Claims report indicated that 406,000 Americans filed for unemployment benefits in a week. Analysts expected that Initial Jobless Claims would total 425,000.

Meanwhile, Continuing Jobless Claims declined from 3.74 million (revised from 3.75 million) to 3.64 million compared to analyst consensus of 3.68 million.

The reports indicated that the job market continued to recover which is not surprising given the robust rebound of the U.S. economy.

Durable Goods Orders Unexpectedly Declined

Traders also had a chance to take a look at the second estimate of the first-quarter GDP Growth Rate report. In the first quarter, GDP grew by 6.4% compared to analyst consensus which called for growth of 6.5%.

Durable Goods Orders declined by 1.3% month-over-month in April compared to analyst consensus which called for growth of 0.7%.

Today, traders will also evaluate Pending Home Sales report for April. Analysts expect that Pending Home Sales increased by 0.8% month-over-month after growing by 1.9% in March.

S&P 500 futures are swinging between gains and losses after the release of these economic reports.

Traders will also keep an eye on the developments in U.S. government bond markets as Treasury yields have started to move higher, and the yield of 10-year Treasuries is currently trying to settle back above 1.60%. Higher yields are bearish for high-flying tech stocks, and the continuation of the current upside momentum may put some pressure on S&P 500.

WTI Oil Faced Resistance Near The $66 Level

WTI oil has recently made another attempt to settle above the $66 level but failed to develop sufficient upside momentum and pulled back.

Oil traders remain focused on rumors about Iran nuclear deal negotiations. The market received contradictory signals in recent days, and it looks that oil will need additional upside catalysts to move higher.

Energy-related stocks have been under some pressure in recent trading sessions, and it looks that this pressure may grow after Exxon Mobil and Chevron suffered some defeats in recent shareholder votes due to environmental concerns while Shell lost in a Dutch court and would have to set more ambitious emissions goals.

For a look at all of today’s economic events, check out our economic calendar.