A slew of economic indicators released today are all coming in stronger than Wall Street anticipated. ISM Manufacturing for December spiked to 59.7, +1.5 percentage points and ahead of consensus of 58.1. The internals of the report are extremely bullish as 16 of 18 industries reported growth.

Percentage Point Changes

• New Orders 69.4, +5.4
• Production 65.8, +1.9
• Prices 69.0, +3.5
• Export Orders 58.5, +2.5

The lone negative was employment to 57.0, -2.7 percentage points, although, it was still well above the expansion line (50).

Retail Sales

Redbook same store sales report for the week that ended December 30, 2017, was up 5.0%, which is slightly lower than the week before, which was the highest level since July 2014. Overall, December was a powerful month for retailers.

US Construction

US Construction spending for November came in at +0.8%, which eclipsed Wall Street consensus. The biggest source of strength was from private construction in general led by robust move in residential. 

The major indices are firmly in the green and being powered higher by Energy and Technology. Advancers led decliners 1507/1376 on the NYSE and 1496/1369 on the Nasdaq.

Let’s keep our powder dry for the remainder of the session.