The Jobless Claims and Existing Home Sales data released Thursday morning affirmed bearish calls for the U.S. economy to worsen. New jobless claims jumped to 640,000 for the week ending 4/18 while continuing claims rose again, this time by 93,000, setting the tally at 6,137,000 unemployed. Existing home sales fell to a rate 4,570,000 homes during March, compared to consensus estimates of 4.7 million, as the supply of existing homes on the market also rose to 9.8 months vs. 9.7 in February.
Stocks are clinging to good news rather than bad as they made up their losses on the day. The S&P 500 closed nearly one percent higher on the day as optimism concerning banking and consumer strength managed to hold a foundation.
Stocks are acting unrationally and may not heed warnings from macro data until the hype and CEO comments have worn off. The market is in a pivotal point here and will need some more positive data to keep the wind in its sails.
