World markets have been on the rebound this morning, clawing back some of yesterday’s losses. US index futures are up 0.3% to 0.9% after falling 1.0%-1.6% yesterday. European markets are in the green as well, with the Dax up 0.1% and the FTSE up 0.3%. Eurozone retail sales did not fall as much as feared (-1.0% vs street -1.3%).
Bitcoin is up 6.3% trading near $66,000, as it tries to recover from yesterday when it rallied to an all-time high above $69,000 then plunged 8.0% at one point during the day before stabilizing. Ethereum is up 12.8% Gold is holding steady near $2,140/oz, close to all-time highs, and Copper is up 0.4%. Energy trading is positive with US Crude Oil up 1,3% and Natural Gas up 0.7%.
Traded interest rates are holding steady ahead of a big 24-hour period for central banks. The US 10-year treasury note yield is near 4.14%, and the 10-year German Bund yield is near 2.34%. The Bank of Canada meets today and the European Central Bank meets tomorrow. Both banks are widely expected to hold their benchmark interest rates steady and provide insight into when or if they are considering cutting interest rates.
Today’s main event is Fed Chair Powell’s testimony to Congress today and tomorrow. In addition to commentary on the economy and interest rates, investors may be watching for hints as to what the Fed’s plans are for its quantitative tightening and other programs with the emergency banking system support it brought in a year ago to help regional banks set to expire next week.
Employment numbers also move into the spotlight through the rest of this week. US ADP payrolls (140K vs street 150K and previous 107K) have come in better than last month but worse than expected. US nonfarm payrolls, Canada jobs and wage inflation data are due on Friday.
We continue to see violent reactions to earnings reports in both directions. Building on a positive earnings report, retailer Target closed up 12.0%. In after market trading, however, retailer Nordstrom dropped 9.7% as weak sales guidance more than offset positive earnings.