The new trading week finds stocks in reverse, with US index futures down 0.5%-1.1%, giving back Friday’s US market gains of 0.0%-1.0%. In overseas action, the Hang Seng fell 2.75%, the Dax is down 0.5% and the FTSE is flat. In commodity action, Natural gas is down 4.9% Copper is down 0.4%, and WTI Crude Oil is flat sitting just below $80.00/bbl. The US Dollar is up 0.1%-0.3% against the Euro, Loonie and Gold in currency trading, while cryptos are starting the week under pressure with Bitcoin down 2.9%.
Investor sentiment appears cautious this morning with investors focusing on a heavy schedule of business news for this week. The main focus appears to be on Wednesday’s Fed interest rate announcement with the US central bank widely expected to raise the Fed Funds rate by 0.25%. Unless there is a headline surprise, investors may focus more on the statement and press conference looking for hints on whether the Fed plans to continue raising interest rates, or is prepared to pause soon like the Bank of Canada did last week. The European Central Bank and Bank of England are holding meetings on Thursday which may give an idea of what overseas central bankers are thinking as well.
This is also looking to be one of the peak weeks for large cap earnings, particularly Thursday afternoon when Apple, Amazon.com and Alphabet (Google) are all scheduled to release results after market close. Other notable US reports this week include Exxon Mobil, Caterpillar, GM, Pfizer and McDonalds Tuesday, Meta Platforms and MetLife on Wednesday, and Merck, ConocoPhillips, Ford, Qualcomm and Starbucks on Thursday. In Canada, CP Rail and Imperial Oil report Tuesday, followed by communications and technology companies like BCE, Rogers, Open Text and Lightspeed on Thursday.
The turn of the calendar to February on Wednesday also brings several significant economic reports from around the world. Headliners include Manufacturing PMI and US ADP payrolls on Wednesday, plus Service PMI and US nonfarm payrolls on Friday.
