It’s the last trading day of the week, month, quarter, and year, and so far equity markets appear content to coast into year end. US Index futures are down marginally this morning after hovering around breakeven yesterday. Over in Europe, the Dax and FTSE are both up about 0.2%.
Overall, it has been a strong December for US equities, with the major indices gaining 4-6% so far and the small cap Russell 2000 soaring 14.3%.
Energy markets are mixed today following yesterday’s larger than expected drawdowns in US Crude Oil (-6.9 mmbbls vs street -2.7 mmbbls) and US Natural Gas (-87 BCF vs street -79 BCF) inventories. Crude Oil is up 0.4%, while Natural Gas is down 0.2%.
The US 10-year treasury note yield continues to creep upward between 3.80% and 3.90%. Metals are taking a hit today with Gold and Copper both down about 0.5% and Silver down 1.6%. Major paper currencies are quiet but cryptos are active with Bitcoin and Ethereum up 0.5%-0.9%.
The few economic numbers which have come out this week, Richmond Fed Manufacturing Index, Weekly Jobless Claims and Pending Home Sales have all come in worse than expected. Today’s main announcement, the Chicago PMI (street 51.0 vs previous 55.8) due at 9:45 am EST, is also expected to indicate a softening economy.
Investors may get a better sense of the state of the global economy next week, when the New Year brings some investors back to work from the holidays and a ton of economic data including Manufacturing and Service PMI surveys from around the world, US ADP and Nonfarm Payrolls, Canada employment and US Construction Spending.