Coming off a big Friday where the S&P 500 gained 0.5% to close above 5000 for the first time ever, US index futures are flat, trading between -0.1% and +0.1%. In Europe, the Dax is up 0.3% while the FTSE is down 0.2%. Most Asia Pacific markets were closed for Lunar New Year holidays but Sydney lost 0.4%.
With Chinese markets closed, commodity action has been mixed as well. US Crude Oil is down 1.2% so far today, while Copper is up 0.2%. In other trading action, Gold is down 0.1%, Natural Gas is down 1.3%, and Bitcoin is down 0.5%. Major currencies are down slightly relative to the US Dollar with the 10-year treasury note yield steady near 4.15%.
It’s a quiet day for economic news, leaving investors to get ready for tomorrow’s US Consumer Price Index report, a key inflation measure that may impact speculation on when central banks may be able to start cutting interest rates. US retail sales are due on Thursday and housing market indicators for the US and Canada also start to roll out this week.
It’s the last week of the heart of earnings season. Although the scheduled is dominated by smaller companies, there are still a number of notable bigger names reporting, particularly in Canada. Headliners include Shopify, Restaurant Brands ad AirBNB on Tuesday, insurers Manulife Financial and Great West Life, plus Cisco Systems and several gold miners on Wednesday, Canadian Tire on Thursday ad Air Canada on Friday.
SIA Wealth In The Media:
Chief Market Strategist Colin Cieszynski appeared on BNN Bloomberg recently where he spoke about S&P 5000, SIA Wealth Management’s tactical investing strategy, relative strength in market sectors, and current trends in monetary policy.