Soft Start To a Short Week
A holiday-shortened final week of the month and quarter finds equity markets backsliding a bit. US index futures are down 0.2%-0.6%. Over in Europe, the Dax is flat and the FTSE is down 0.4%. Asia Pacific trading saw the Nikkei fall 1.1% and Shanghai lose 0.7%. Commodity trading is mixed with US Crude Oil up […]
Stocks Consolidate Record Highs, Digest Earnings Reports
Coming off a day of gains that saw the Dow Industrials and the S&P 500 close at all-time highs, overnight trading has been mixed, The Nikkei climbed 0.2% while the Hang Seng fell 2.2% in Asia Pacific trading. In Europe this morning, the Dax is flat, the FTSE is up 0.5% and the CAC is […]
Post-Powell Rally Continues as Swiss Deliver a Surprise Rate Cut
Investors responded positively late yesterday to a stay the course Fed decision which saw no change to interest rates, no change to the member forecast of 3 rate cuts this year, no change to the neutral tone with inflation still not subdued, and no change to Quantitative Tightening. Traders ignored the Fed slowing the forecast […]
US Dollar Rallies Ahead of a Potentially Big Day At The Fed
The Fed releases its latest interest rate decision, statement and member forecasts at 2:00 pm EDT today, followed by Chair Powell’s usual press conference at 2:30 pm. This time around the US central bank is widely expected to maintain interest rates. Investors may look to the statement and forecasts for hints on how many interest […]
Stocks Start To Retreat Amid Monetary and Currency Developments
It has been a very mixed morning for trading among equity markets around the world. Asia Pacific indices rendered a split decision with the Nikkei climbing 0.6% back up above 40,000, while the Hang Seng dropped 1.25%. In Europe today, the Dax is up 0.1% while the FTSE is down 0.2%. US index futures are […]
World Markets Digest China Data and Await Bank of Japan Decision
The new trading week finds investors awaiting the results of several central bank meetings this week. Tonight, the Bank of Japan is expected to end its ultra-dovish negative interest rate program with a widely anticipated bump of its benchmark rate up to zero. The Reserve Bank of Australia also meets overnight. On Wednesday the Fed […]
Stocks Attempt To Rebound From a Stagflation Selloff
This week’s worse than expected US inflation data and retail sales report, which suggested an emerging period of stagflation (high inflation and low economic growth) appears to have rattled momentum investors and dampened risk appetite. While headline US indices fell about 0.3% yesterday, some the highest-flying sectors year to date like Semiconductors and Homebuilders were […]
Stocks Slide as Producer Prices Rise and Retail Sales Disappoint
US markets have turned downward in the last few minutes following the release of several significant economic reports which suggest a stagflationary environment heading into next week’s FOMC meeting. US Producer prices (1.9% vs street 1.1% and previous 0.9%) jumped upward, suggesting inflation pressures are starting to build again. US retail sales (0.6% vs street […]
Steady Markets Digest Recent News and Moves
Yesterday’s 0.6%-1.6% rally in US indices which carried the S&P 500 to a new all time high has not carried through overnight trading. Asia Pacific trading was mixed between -0.4% and +0.4%, while in Europe this morning, the Dax and the FTSE are both flat. US index futures are flat to down 0.2% while the […]
Rising Consumer Prices Send Stocks Soaring
Headline US Consumer Prices (3.2% vs street 3.1%) and Core CPI (3.8% vs street 3.7%) came in hotter than expected, indicating that inflation pressures not only are not decreasing as fast as investors had hoped; they may be starting to increase again. This adds evidence to support the “higher for longer” theme that Fed speakers […]