VWAGY - Major Economic Indicators Continue To Be 'Mixed'

• The Commerce Department announced that sales of new homes declined 6.6% in June to an annual pace of 676,000, which is a post-pandemic monthly low. May’s new home sales were revised lower to an annual pace of 724,000, down from 769,000 previously reported.
• Durable goods orders rose 0.8% in June as orders for commercial planes and vehicles rose. Durable goods orders have now risen in 13 of the past 14 months and are expected to remain strong, since order backlogs persist due to supply chain bottlenecks.
• The Conference Board announced that its consumer confidence index rose to 129.1 in July, up from 128.9 in June, reaching the index’s highest level since February 2020. This was a big surprise, as economists expected consumer confidence to drop to 123.9 in June after the University of Michigan’s preliminary consumer sentiment index declined.
• Thebiggest news last week was that Wednesday’s FOMC statement said that“progress” had been made towards meeting its goal and that the Fed wouldcontinue its $120 billion per month in quantitative easing until “substantialfurther progress.”.

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