The post-election honeymoon for stocks appears to be winding down with traders taking profits ahead of the weekend. US index futures are down 0.4% to 0.8% this morning adding to yesterday’s US index losses of 0.4%-0.7%. European markets are split with the Dax down 0.2% and the FTSE up marginally.
The US 10-year treasury note yield is holding steady above 4.40%. Late yesterday Fed Chair Powell indicated that with the US economy holding up relatively well, he is not in a hurry to drive down interest rates suggesting that the US central bank is unlikely to accelerate rate cuts and may even pause at an upcoming meeting.
Today’s US economic numbers provide more evidence of a resilient economy. US retail sales (0.4% vs street 0.3%) and the Empire State Manufacturing Index (31.s vs street -0.7) came in better than expected. The US Dollar has bounced on the news, enabling it to start clawing back ground lost earlier in the morning. Gold is steady giving back previous morning gains. Bitcoin has been taking another run at $90,000, up 1,8% today.
Commodity action is mixed today. Copper is up 0.8% while US Crude Oil is down 0.3%. Chinese economic numbers, an indicator of resource demand, were mixed with retail sales beating expectations (4.8% vs street 3.8%), but industrial production disappointing (5.3% vs street 5.6%).