Consumers are showing some renewed enthusiasm and driving economic growth. In fact, stocks rose on Monday to record highs. The Dow is up 73, and the S&P 500 rose 9 alongside a 44 Nasdaq increase. The boost was supported by gains in Apple and Facebook, according to CNBC.com.
Daniel Greenhaus, chief global strategist at BTIG, explained: “The stock market bias is to the upside now, but don’t expect there to be very much action at all.” According to Greenhaus, the market will only be influenced if the numbers deviate greatly from expectations.
UBS’s Art Cashin added that the market appears ready for additional gains by the end of the year, but this week may remain dull. “I think you’re going to have a limited audience, and people are going to try to leave early,” he said.
Tuesday is indeed a short trading day in preparation for Christmas Eve, and stocks will be closing at 1 p.m. ET. Bond trading will also end at 2 p.m. The holidays are impacting more than just the stock market, with personal spending rising significantly for the holidays.
“In this latest month of November, consumers are spending quite a bit. There’s been a huge change. Before Friday’s GDP revision, we thought consumer spending was a dull 1.4 percent, and now it’s 3.6 percent,” said economist Chris Rupkey.
“I guess they are spending a lot ahead of the holiday season. Now we think services spending was not as weak as initially believed,” he added.
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