A two-day pullback for US markets appears to be ending for the moment. Reports that US and Chinese trade officials are set to hold informal talks over the weekend have sparked a rebound in US index futures, which are up 0.2% to 0.4% this morning, clawing back most of yesterday’s 0.7% to 1.0% US index losses. Europe is broadly in the red this morning with the FTSE down 0.4% and the Dax down 0.1%. Commodity action is mixed with Copper down 2.0% and Crude Oil up 0.9% but still below $60.00/bbl.
The more immediate event for markets, however, remains today’s Fed interest decision at 2:00 pm EDT, followed by Chair Powell’s press conference a half hour later. The US 10-year treasury note yield is steady above 4.30%, indicating that investors are expecting no change to monetary policy to come out of this meeting. Gold is down 0.6% in what looks like a common correction after rallying for two days. The US Dollar is holding steady relative to the other major currencies.
Walt Disney is up 8.4% in premarket trading after beating the Street on EPS, revenues and streaming subscriber growth. The reaction to other companies’ numbers is more mixed with Uber down 3.7% after falling short of revenue expectations, and AMD up 2.1% premarket. After the close today, results are due from Manulife Financial, Great West Lifeco, Nutrien, and ARM Holdings.