Stocks See Support from Economic Confidence After Strong US GDP Report

Economic Performance - The US Q3 real GDP rose by +4.3% (quarter-over-quarter annualized), exceeding expectations of +3.3% and up from Q2's +2.5% [3] - The Q3 GDP Price Index increased by +3.8% (quarter-over-quarter annualized), significantly above expectations of +2.7% and up from Q2's +2.1% [3] - The Q3 core PCE Price Index rose by +2.9% (quarter-over-quarter annualized), in line with expectations but higher than Q2's +2.6% [3] Consumer Confidence and Manufacturing - The Conference Board's December US consumer confidence index fell by -3.8 points to 89.1, below expectations of 91.0 [4] - The December Philadelphia Fed non-manufacturing index decreased by -0.5 points to -16.8, weaker than expectations for a rise to -15.0 [4] - November US industrial production fell by -0.1% month-over-month, slightly below market expectations of +0.1% [6] Durable Goods Orders - October durable goods orders declined by -2.2% month-over-month, weaker than expectations of -1.5% [5] - October durable goods orders excluding transportation rose by +0.2% month-over-month, slightly below market expectations of +0.3% [5] - October core capital goods orders (excluding transportation and defense) increased by +0.5% month-over-month, slightly stronger than market expectations of +0.3% [5] Seasonal Trends - Historical data indicates that the S&P 500 has risen 75% of the time in the last two weeks of December, with an average increase of 1.3% [6]