Markets rise amid weak economic data

Markets rose on Thursday. Bloomberg reports:

Stocks rallied and commodities rebounded from a seven-week low as Spain pledged to cut its deficit and speculation grew that China’s government will do more to support economic growth. The dollar and Treasuries fell.

The MSCI All-Country World Index (MXWD) climbed 0.8 percent at 4:30 p.m. in New York, rebounding from its biggest drop since July. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index advanced 1 percent, halting a five-day slump, and the Shanghai Composite Index jumped the most in three weeks. The S&P GSCI gauge of commodities gained 1.3 percent as oil rebounded, while the dollar weakened versus all 16 major peers. Spain’s 10-year bonds rose for the first time in three days, while U.S. notes halted the longest rally since 2008.

Investors shrugged off weak economic data on Thursday.

In China, industrial companies' profits fell 6.2 percent in August from a year earlier, the fifth consecutive decline and the biggest this year.

In the euro area, the European Commission's economic sentiment indicator fell to 85.0 in September from 86.1 in August.

The UK did report an upward revision to second quarter economic growth. GDP is now estimated to have fallen 0.4 percent last quarter instead of the previous estimate of a 0.5 percent fall.

However, in the US, second quarter growth was revised down to 1.3 percent from 1.7 percent.

And there were other negative data on Thursday on the usually-resilient US economy.

Durable goods orders plunged 13.2 percent in August, weighed down by a 34.9 percent fall in transportation orders. However, even excluding transportation, orders fell 1.6 percent.

Orders for non-defense capital goods excluding aircraft did rise 1.1 percent in August, partly reversing a 5.2 percent fall the previous month.

However, US pending home sales fell 2.6 percent in August, reversing the 2.6 percent rise in July.