Stocks Retreat as Investors Digest Central Bank News

Yesterday afternoon’s relief rally which pushed US indices to gains of 0.9% to 1.4% has evaporated overnight. This morning finds US index futures down 0.4%-0.6%, while in Europe, the Dax is down 1.5% and the FTSE is down 0.3%. The US Dollar is rallying today, gaining 1.1% against the Australian Dollar, 0.6% against the Euro […]

Stocks and Gold Await Central Bank Decisions

Stabilizing after yesterday’s US index losses of 0.6% to 1.7%, US index futures are trading flat to up 0.3% this morning. Over in Europe, the Dax is down 0.6% and the FTSE is down 0.2%. The US 10-year treasury note yield is steady near 4.25%. Gold is up 0.1%, trading near $3,045/oz. Crude Oil is […]

Divergences Highlight Changing Leadership and Sentiment

Significant divergences and reversals have emerged in overnight trading that suggest changing capital flows and leadership across world markets. For the last several years, US has been the leading equity market in the world but that now appears to be shifting to international markets. A broadening advance in overseas markets accelerated overnight with Hong Kong […]

Disappointing Economic Numbers From the US and Canada

The new trading week has kicked off with a series of disappointing economic reports out of North America. US retail sales slowed significantly from a year ago (3.1% vs previous 3.9%) as retail sales over month disappointed (0.2% vs street 0.7%). The Empire State Manufacturing Index staged a severe and surprising drop (-20.0 vs street […]

Gold Reaches $3,000 Today

Reports that a US government shutdown may be averted for now appears to have sparked a round of short covering and bargain hunting ahead of the weekend. US index futures are up 0.7% to 1.4% with NASDAQ futures leading the way upward and Dow futures trailing. In the wider context, however, today’s early rally has […]

Relief Rally Fades as Trade Tensions Broaden

Yesterday’s market bounce on the better than expected US Consumer Price Index report is increasingly looking like a dead cat bounce. Although the NASDAQ gained 1.2% and the S&P 500 Index climbed 0.5% yesterday, the Russell 2000 only gained 0.2% and the Dow Industrials finished the day down 0.2%. This morning finds US index futures […]

Inflation and Interest Rates in Focus Today

US Consumer Prices for February came in better than expected (2.8% vs street 2.9% and previous 3.0%), and stocks are rallying on the news. This sign of benign inflation, even amid all the recent trade war and tariff turmoil, may be taken as a sign by investors that the Fed is not under pressure to […]

Trade War Fears Drag Markets Down

SIA Wealth Morning Minutes will not be issued tomorrow, it will return on Wednesday March 12th. Amid ongoing uncertainty over the potential impact of tariffs and trade wars on the global economy investor sentiment continues to shift from enthusiasm to caution. Bitcoin, a proxy for investor confidence, is down 3.9% and trading in the low […]

Stocks and Oil Rebound as Focus Turns to Employment Data

North American employment reports were disappointing as US Nonfarm Payrolls (151K vs street 160K) and Canada employment (1K vs street 20K) both came in below expectations. Wage inflation was steady in the US near 4.0%, but accelerated in Canada to 4.0% from 3.7% last month. US index futures are climbing 0.2% to 0.6% on this […]

Semiconductor Selloff and Rising Layoffs Drag on Markets

The weight of high AI growth expectations and valuations appears to be catching up to the Semiconductor sector. Last night Marvell Technologies beat the street by a penny on both EPS and guidance. That news, however, clearly was not good enough for many investors as Marvell shares are down 18.6% premarket and dragging other chipmakers […]