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 […]

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 […]

Positive Start to a Shortened Trading Week

US traders have returned from the long weekend in a good mood. US index futures are up 0.2%-0.5%. Europe is now in the green with the Dax and FTSE both up about 0.2%. Asia Pacific trading saw the Hang Seng rally 1.6%. The US Dollar is dropping back a bit today. Gold is up 1.0%, […]

Stocks Pause Ahead of the Long Weekend

With a long weekend approaching in North America, traders appear inclined to take profits following yesterday’s rally. Soft US retail sales and mixed earnings don’t appear to be helping sentiment either. US headline retail sales (-0.9% vs street -0.1% and previous +0.7%), and retail sales ex autos (-0.4% vs street +0.3%) showed an abrupt and […]

Markets Digest Inflation and Earnings News

US Producer prices came in hotter than expected this morning (3.5% vs street 3.2% and previous 3.3%), confirming the increase in inflation seen in yesterday’s US consumer price report. Tomorrow brings US retail sales for this month. Unlike yesterday where stocks sold off on the prospects of rising inflation, traders appear to be taking today’s […]

US Dollar Rallies Amid Rising Inflation and Falling Stocks

US Consumer Prices (3.0% vs street 2.9%), and US Core CPI (3.3% vs street 3.1%) both came in higher than expected, suggesting that inflation may be bottoming out and starting to turn back upward. US index futures have plunged in the minutes following the release of these numbers. Currently US index futures are down 0.9%-1.0% […]

Stocks Slip Ahead of Powell Testimony

Yesterday’s equity market rally which saw major US indices gain 0.4% to 1.0% appears to have run out of steam this morning. US index futures are currently giving back some of yesterday’s gains, falling 0.2%-0.4%, while in Europe, the Dax and FTSE are essentially flat. President Trump launching 25% tariffs on Steel and Aluminum may […]

FTSE Rallies, Sterling Sinks on UK Rate Cut

The Bank of England cut its benchmark interest rate by 0.25% as had been widely expected. This has sparked significant moves in the UK market today with the FTSE gaining 1.6% and the Pound falling 1.1%. In comparison, the Euro, Aussie, Loonie and Gold are all down about 0.3% against the US Dollar. Equity market […]

Trade Turmoil Rocks World Markets

Tariffs throw sand into the gears of global commerce and markets have long hated them. They hated them in the Depression, they hated tariffs in 2002, and the hated them at other times over the decades. It should come as no surprise to anyone then that after markets ignored the looming threat of a trade […]

Traders Focus on Earnings While Tariff Threat Looms Larger

A week that started with a selloff appears set to finish with a rally into month-end. US index futures are up 0.2%-0.8% with NASDAQ futures leading the advance. Over in Europe, the Dax is up 0.2% and the FTSE is up 0.3%. Commodity action is mixed with Crude Oil up 0.2% and Copper down 0.4%. […]