U.S. stocks closed slightly higher on Wednesday after a somewhat sluggish session as investors made cautious moves while awaiting the release of personal consumption expenditures price index report, due on Friday.

Data on first quarter GDP, durable goods orders for the month of May, and jobless claims report are also due this week.

The major averages all closed on the positive side. Technology stocks outperformed, lifting the Nasdaq by 87.5o points or 0.49 percent, to 17,805.16. The Dow ended up by 15.64 points or 0.04 percent at 39,127.80, while the S&P 500 settled at 5,477.60, gaining 8.60 points or 0.16 percent.

Bank stocks were in focus ahead of the central bank’s annual stress test. Shares of energy firms struggled a bit due to sluggish oil prices.

Amazon rallied about 4 percent, and the surge lifted the stock’s market cap past $2 trillion.

Apple Inc, Tesla Inc., Walmart, Home Depot, United Parcel Service and Boeing gained 1 to 4 percent.

Automatic Data Processing shares dropped more than 4 percent. Dell Technologies, Analog Devices, Pfizer, Morgan Stanley, Amgen, Cisco Systems, Qualcomm, Chevron, Advanced Micro Devices and Merck lost 1 to 3 percent.

On the economic front, a report released by the Commerce Department showed new home sales in the U.S. saw a substantial decrease in the month of May, plunging by 11.3 percent to an annual rate of 619,000, after jumping by 2.0 percent to a revised rate of 698,000 in April.

Economists had expected new home sales to rise to an annual rate of 640,000 from the 634,000 originally reported for the previous month.

Meanwhile, building permits in the U.S. fell by 2.8 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.399 million in May, revised higher from a preliminary estimate of 1.386 million.

In overseas trading, Asian stocks ended mostly higher on Wednesday as a rebound in tech stocks helped offset hawkish comments from Federal Reserve officials.

Amid much uncertainty about the interest-rate outlook, investors braced for the release of key U.S. inflation reading, due later this week for directional cues.

European stocks failed to hold early gains and drifted lower on Wednesday as investors chose to lighten commitments ahead of some crucial economic data from the U.S., including a report on personal income & spending, and amid uncertainty about the outlook for interest rates.

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Yes, that’s a cartoon of me.  Louis Rukeyser had us dressed up in ‘elf’ costumes on the screen broadcast each week.  I’ve dated myself. That occurred for me between 1988-1996.  Lou didn’t like any bearish comments, so myself and other elves got dumped in 1996.  

WHO am I?

MARK LEIBOVIT is Chief Market Strategist for LEIBOVIT VR NEWSLETTERS  a/k/a VRTrader.Com. His technical expertise is in overall market timing and stock selection based upon his proprietary VOLUME REVERSAL (TM) methodology and Annual Forecast Model.

Mark’s extensive media television profile includes seven years as a consultant ‘Elf’ on “Louis Rukeyser’s Wall Street Week” television program, and over thirty years as a Market Monitor guest for PBS “The Nightly Business Report”.  He also has appeared on Fox Business News, CNBC, BNN (Canada), and Bloomberg, and has been interviewed in Barrons, Business Week, Forbes and The Wall Street Journal and Michael Campbell’s MoneyTalks.

In the January 2, 2020 edition of TIMER DIGEST MAGAZINE, Mark Leibovit was ranked the #1 U.S. Stock Market Timer and was previously ranked  #1 Intermediate U.S. Market Timer for the ten year period December, 1997 to 2007.

He was a ‘Market Maker’ on the Chicago Board Options Exchange and the Midwest Options Exchange and then went on to work in the Research department of two Chicago based brokerage firms.  Mr. Leibovit now publishes a series of newsletters at www.LeibovitVRNewsletters.com.   He became a member of the Market Technicians Association in 1982.

Mr. Leibovit’s specialty is Volume Analysis and his proprietary Leibovit Volume Reversal Indicator is well known for forecasting accurate signals of trend direction and reversals in the equity, metals and futures markets. He has historical experience recognizing, bull and bear markets and signaling alerts prior to market crashes. His indicator is currently available on the Metastock platform.

His comprehensive study on Volume Analysis, The Trader’s Book of Volume published by McGraw-Hill is a definitive guide to volume trading.  It is now also published in Chinese.  Mark has appeared in speaking engagements and seminars in the U.S. and Canada.

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COME ON, DAD. IT’S TIME TO EAT

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