Crude oil futures spiked this morning and are giving a lift to the energy sector. Oil prices are trading around $46.43, almost a 2% gain. This has not done much to help the major equity indices. The NASDAQ, Dow Jones Industrial Average, and S&P 500 traded most of the session in the red, but are currently hovering around the breakeven line. Gallup released its economic consumer confidence survey results for the month of July. The economic confidence index decreased to -12 from a -8 reading in June. The results reiterated how American’s are skeptical regarding the future of the economy. We also had one report this morning that hints at the direction of the economy.

The Census Bureau released its monthly Manufacturers’ Goods report for the month of June. June saw new orders rise by 1.8% month-over-month to $478.5 billion. This is a nice recovery from May where new orders declined by 1.1% month-over-month. When excluding transportation, new orders actually rose by 0.5%. Also positive from the quarter was the value of shipments rising by 0.5% during the quarter to $483.5 billion, rebounding after falling 0.2% in May. Unfilled orders increased very slightly to $1,194 billion. Overall, the month of June shows a nice improvement compared to the past few months.