Monday saw losses by close of play for both the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the Nasdaq. Technology and financial stocks led the Dow Jones down, with help from economic data, soon expected. By close of play, the Dow Jones was down by almost 1.5% and the Nasdaq 100 down by almost 3%.
Tuesday saw the release of the consumer confidence index figures - and they were confident. February's figure was 95 with 98 expected in March. What they actually got was 110.2! Not such good news on the durable goods order front - orders rose by 1.5% in February but when transportation was disregarded, actual orders fell by 1.3%. Nevertheless, markets were up and in the black. The Dow Jones closed up by 0.7% and the Nasdaq closed up by 0.8%.
Wednesday was a second day in the black for some US markets with the Dow Jones closing up 0.7%. Whilst the Nasdaq Composite Index closed up slightly, the Nasdaq 100 fell by 0.2%. In a reversal of fortune from Monday, technology and financial stocks led gainers. After Tuesday's consumer confidence figures, analysts feel that the economy is getting stronger and picking up. They also feel that the worst is over but there are no indicators to say just how strong a recovery will be.
Thursday's released gross domestic product data showed that the US economy had grown by 1.7% as opposed to the expected 1.4%. There was also a better than expected rise in the University of Michigan's consumer sentiment index to 95.7 for March. However, the Dow Jones suffered as blue chip stocks fell out of favour, closing down by 0.2%. Different news altogether for the Nasdaq 100, closing up by 1.1%. The only bad news was in respect of unemployment which had risen by 18,000 over the last week.
Friday saw markets in the US closed for the Easter holidays.