Just as I was wondering yesterday as to where the driver to move this market higher might come from, I received the answer load and clear.
ADP’s report, that private employers had added 93,000 jobs in November, which was better than expected, set the tone early on. Other data, such as the ISM, suggested that manufacturing is holding up nicely, while the Fed’s beige book report described an economic environment that is gaining momentum.
That was all it took, and the major indexes never looked back as the chart above shows. The rally was broad and deep with solid volume. Obviously, interest rates were higher with commodities, oil and gold following the up move, while the dollar sagged.
Even news from Europe had a positive twist as speculation increased that the European Central Bank will enact measures to better contain the debt issues of various countries. Whether they actually can agree on something remains to be seen, but for today at least, there were no negative market influencing news to be found.
There is more to come in regards to economic data points with the most important one being Friday’s jobs report. If that supports ADP’s positive data, along with no surprises in the unemployment rate, we might see another move to the upside.