US indexes rallied 0.8%-1.4% yesterday sending the S&P 500 to a new all-time high. This morning, US index futures are consolidating their gains and Dow futures have climbed above 40,000. European action is mixed with the Dax down 0.3% and the FTSE up 0.1%. Asia Pacific trading was positive with Tokyo, Sydney, and Hong Kong gaining 1.4% to 1.6%.
The US 10-year treasury note yield has stabilized above 4.30% after dropping down from near 4.45% yesterday. In a reversal of yesterday’s action, Energy contracts are up with US Crude Oil bouncing 0.3% and Natural Gas gaining 0.8%. Metals are mixed with Gold and Copper slipping about 0.2%, while Silver and Platinum are both up about 0.3%.
For a second day in a row, US housing data has disappointed. Yesterday the NAHB Housing Market Index had a big drop and a big miss (45 vs street 51), echoing weakness in retailing and manufacturing data this week. Today US housing starts also missed (1.36M vs street 1.42M), and on the employment side, both initial jobless claims and continuing claims came in worse than expected. US industrial production is due at 9:15 am EDT. Tonight the focus turns to China for retail sales and industrial production data.
Retail earnings season resumed this morning with Walmart beating expectations ($0.60 vs street $0.53, up 6.6% premarket). Other companies reporting overnight include Deere ($8.53 vs street $7.86, down 5.8%), and Cisco Systems ($0.88 vs street $0.83).