Tuesday brought Durable Goods Orders and CB Consumer Confidence figures. Orders for business equipment at U.S. factories unexpectedly fell for a second month, a sign that demand is cooling from its hot pace in recent quarters, a Commerce Department report showed Tuesday. Non-military capital goods orders excluding aircraft declined 0.2% (est. up 0.5%) after falling 0.6% the prior month. Shipments of those goods, which are used to calculate gross domestic product, rose 0.1% (est. up 0.3%) after an upwardly revised 0.7% increase. Bookings for all durable goods, items meant to last at least three years, dropped 3.7% (est. 2% decline) following a downwardly revised 2.6% increase. Excluding transportation-equipment demand, which is volatile, orders fell 0.3% (est. up 0.4%) after rising 0.7%.

The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index increased in February, following a modest increase in January. The Index now stands at 130.8 (1985=100), up from 124.3 in January. The Present Situation Index increased from 154.7 to 162.4, while the Expectations Index improved from 104.0 last month to 109.7 this month. "Consumer confidence improved to its highest level since 2000 (Nov. 2000, 132.6) after a modest increase in January," said Lynn Franco, Director of Economic Indicators at The Conference Board.

Wednesday was marked by GDP and Pending Home Sales data. Real gross domestic product (GDP) increased at an annual rate of 2.5 percent in the fourth quarter of 2017, according to the "second" estimate released by the Bureau of Economic Analysis. In the third quarter, real GDP increased 3.2 percent. The increase in real GDP in the fourth quarter reflected positive contributions from personal consumption expenditures (PCE), exports, nonresidential fixed investment, residential fixed investment, state and local government spending, and federal government spending that were partly offset by a negative contribution from private inventory investment. Imports, which are a subtraction in the calculation of GDP, increased.

After seeing a modest three-month rise in activity, pending home sales cooled considerably in January to their lowest level in over three years, according to the National Association of Realtors. All major regions experienced monthly and annual declines in contract signings last month. The Pending Home Sales Index fell 4.7 percent to 104.6 in January from a downwardly revised 109.8 in December 2017. After last month’s retreat, the index is now 3.8 percent below a year ago and at its lowest level since October 2014 (104.1).

On Thursday Unemployment Claims and ISM Manufacturing PMI data was published. In the week ending February 24, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 210,000, a decrease of 10,000 from the previous week's revised level. This is the lowest level for initial claims since December 6, 1969 when it was 202,000. The previous week's level was revised down by 2,000 from 222,000 to 220,000. The 4-week moving average was 220,500, a decrease of 5,000 from the previous week's revised average. This is the lowest level for this average since December 27, 1969 when it was 219,750. The previous week's average was revised down by 500 from 226,000 to 225,500.

The February PMI® registered 60.8 percent, an increase of 1.7 percentage points from the January reading of 59.1 percent. The New Orders Index registered 64.2 percent, a decrease of 1.2 percentage points from the January reading of 65.4 percent. Supplier deliveries continued to slow (improving) at a faster rate. Price increases occurred across most industry sectors. The Customers’ Inventories Index indicates levels remain too low. Capital expenditure lead times improved by five days while production material supplier lead times extended four days during the month of February.

This week markets will be looking at:

ISM Non-Manufacturing PMI (Monday 16:00)

ADP Non-Farm Employment Change (Wednesday 14:15)

Unemployment Claims (Thursday 14:30)

Non-Farm Employment Change/Unemployment Rate (Friday 14:30)