With the Fed and Quadruple Witching now in the rear-view mirror, US Index futures are up slightly to start the week with gains of 0.1%-0.3%, consolidating last week’s gains. Over in Europe, the Dax is down 0.4% while the FTSE is up 0.6%. The US 10-year treasury note yield is steady near 3.90%.
Energy markets are bouncing back strongly today with Crude Oil up 2.0% and Natural Gas up 3.2%. Metals action is mixed with Gold up 0.1% and Copper down 0.5%. Cryptocurrencies are backsliding with Bitcoin down 2.0% ad Ethereum down 4.2%.
There are two merger-related announcements to kick off the week. US Steel has agreed to be acquired by Nippon Steel for $14.9B or $55.00 per share. On the other hand, Adobe and Figma has decided to drop their $20B planned merger in the face of opposition from competition regulators in the UK and Europe.
This is the last big week for business news before things go quiet for the last week of the year. For economic news, housing market data for the US and Canada dominates the agenda starting today with Canada New House Prices at 9:30 am EST (previous 3.1%), followed by the US NAHB Housing Market Index at 11:00 am (street 36 vs previous 34).
The Bank of Japan meets tonight with investors looking for hints on whether it plans to shift away from its ultra-dovish stance on monetary policy in early 2024 or not. There are also a number of inflation reports due including Canadian consumer prices tomorrow, UK consumer prices on Wednesday and US core PCE inflation on Friday. The most notable earnings reports are FedEx on Tuesday and Nike on Thursday.