Markets: News  

The stock market made a rebound attempt today. There were some fits and starts in that attempt, but ultimately it was successful, gaining some steam after the release of the Minutes for the May FOMC meeting. Each of the major indices ended the day higher, yet the performance edge clearly went to the small-cap and mid-cap stocks over their larger peers.The Russell 2000 increased 2.0% and the S&P Midcap 400 Index increased 1.9% versus gains of 1.0% for the S&P 500 and 0.6% for the Dow Jones Industrial Average. Some speculative trading action and short-covering activity bolstered the performance of the smaller-capitalization stocks, but to be fair, today's session had a predominately rebound-minded bias that saw the majority of stocks attract some buy-the-dip interest.That interest was evident in the advance-decline line, which favored advancing issues by a nearly 4-to-1 margin at the NYSE and a better than 2-to-1 margin at the Nasdaq.Notwithstanding the broad-based gains, the stock market did not exorcise its fundamental demons. Growth concerns continued to persist, evidenced by some weaker-than-expected durable goods orders for April, no growth in weekly mortgage purchase applications, luxury homebuilder Toll Brothers (TOL 48.09, +3.55, +8.0%) acknowledging that demand has moderated over the past month, and Dick's Sporting Goods (DKS 78.14, +6.90, +9.7%) issuing FY23 EPS guidance well below the consensus estimate due to the expected impact of evolving macroeconomic conditions.Those concerns, though, were set aside as market participants looked intent on forcing a rebound effort. That intention was most evident in the consumer discretionary sector (+2.8%), which has been the hardest-hit sector this year and which shook off the warning from Dick's Sporting Goods, unlike past sessions when it reacted decidedly negative to disappointing guidance.Most sectors ended today higher. The lone laggards were the utilities (-0.06%) and industrials (-0.02%) sectors. The energy (+2.0%) and information technology (+1.2%) sectors fell in line behind the consumer discretionary sector as the best-performing sectors. Gains for the remaining sectors ranged from 0.04% to 0.9%.Late in the day, the S&P 500 flirted with 4,000, stopping just short at 3999.33. The latter marked the high of the day and it was logged roughly an hour after the release of the FOMC Minutes at 2:00 p.m. ET. Market participants were presumably heartened by the notion that Fed members want to move expeditiously to the neutral rate in a bid to quell inflation pressures, and that moving there quickly could allow the Fed possibly to pause its rate hikes later in the year to assess the effects of policy firming.It is highly debatable that a neutral rate in the neighborhood of 2.50% will be high enough to quell inflation pressures, but it was just enough of a carrot to create some trading excitement in the afternoon session. Notably, the 2-yr note yield barely budged after the release of the minutes, standing its ground at 2.50%. Meanwhile, stocks finished off their highs on some renewed selling interest over the last 45 minutes of trading.Reviewing today's economic data: The conditions for durable goods orders proved to be reasonably good in April, if not altogether as strong as expected. New orders for durable goods increased 0.4% month-over-month (Briefing.com consensus 0.6%) while new orders for durable goods, excluding transportation, rose 0.3% month-over-month (Briefing.com consensus 0.6%). The key takeaway from the report is that business spending continued to increase. That view was embedded in the 0.3% increase in nondefense capital goods orders, excluding aircraft, which followed on the heels of a 1.1% increase in March.Total applications declined 1.2% week-over-week, with purchase applications flat and refinancing applications down 2.0%Looking ahead, market participants will receive the Second Estimate for Q1 GDP, Weekly Initial and Continuing Jobless Claims, April Pending Home Sales, and weekly EIA Natural Gas Inventories data on Thursday.Dow Jones Industrial Average -11.5% YTDS&P 500 -16.5% YTDS&P 400 -14.6% YTDRussell 2000 -19.9% YTDNasdaq Composite -26.9% YTD