Daily Data Flow: Stocks Rise on Factory Orders; Auto Sales Strong in March; Dollar Rebounds from Low against Yen

Stocks Rise on Factory Orders (Bloomberg)
Today, U.S. stocks rose, thanks in part to factory orders surpassing estimates and concerns over Cyprus and the rest of Europe lowering. “It’s an agonizingly slow economic recovery but it is a recovery,” Tom Mangan, a money manager at James Investment Research Inc. in Xenia, Ohio, said. “The risk has so far not been that you are in the stock market, the risk is that you’re not in the stock market and that you don’t own enough stocks.”

Auto Sales Strong in March (CNBC)
Auto sales picked up last month, with several carmakers having their best month since early 2007. “The positives still outweigh any of the negatives out there,” said Kurt McNeil, vice president of U.S. sales for General Motors. “Housing, jobs, consumer credit, stock market performance are all leading to some good business.”

Dollar Rebounds from Low against Yen (Reuters)
Aided by today’s Wall Street rally, the dollar recovered from yesterday’s one-month low against the Japanese yen. Also contributing to the dollar’s rise were expectations of further action from the Bank of Japan. “It’s a bit of a give-back for the yen after its rally over the weekend, and now the market is anticipating what the BoJ would and won’t do at this week’s policy meeting,” said Brian Dangerfield, currency strategist at RBS Securities in Stamford, Connecticut.