Monday's Market Update (Feb 27, 2023)

27 Feb 2023 by rate3

On Monday morning, the Census Bureau reported that durable goods orders, which are meant to last at least three years, sank 4.5 percent in January. This was almost in line with market forecasts of -4 and the most significant drop since April of 2020. Orders for non-defense aircraft and parts showed the biggest decline at -54.6 percent, which might be interpreted as a re-adjustment after the January surge in orders of 5.1 percent. Excluding transportation, durable goods orders were up 0.7 percent, which is comparable with the yearly average.

At the same time, pending home sales surged 8.1 percent in January, marking the biggest hike since June of 2020. This far exceeded the market forecasts of a 1 percent gain. Both of these leading indicators show the strength of the economy and do not reveal any new information for traders. As a result, the NASDAQ remained at about 15K during the day session (opening: 11517, closing: 11466), and BTC slid 1.6 percent (opening: 23704, closing: 23321). Looks like the fact that the Dallas Fed Manufacturing Index slipped to -13.5 in February (-2 was expected) did not impact the traders' decisions.