Coming off of a mixed Tuesday that saw the Dow Industrials gain 0.7% and the NASDAQ lose 1.2%, US index futures are off to a positive start today with Dow futures up 0.7% and NASDAQ futures up 1.2%. European markets are also rallying today with the Dax up 1.5% and the FTSE up 0.3%. Energy markets are up this morning with WTI crude oil gaining 0.8%. Metals markets are mixed with copper up 0.7% but platinum down 1.3%, silver down 2.2% and gold down 0.8%. Cryptocurrencies are also climbing today, led by a 3.1% gain for Bitcoin.
Investors have generally been responding positively to what has been a mixed round of overnight earnings reports from US companies. On the positive side, Tesla Motors ($3.22 vs street $2.26, up 7.3% premarket), and AT&T ($0.63 vs street $0.59) beat expectations. United Airlines and American Airlines posted losses for last quarter but are up 8.3% and 10.1% respectively after both airlines indicated that travel demand is surging and forecast profits for the current quarter, even with fuel costs rising. Xerox is down 11.9% premarket after the company missed on earnings ($0.12 vs street $0.13) with management blaming rising costs and supply chain issues. Later today, results are due from railroad Union Pacific, miner Freeport, steelmaker Nucor and social media platform Snap.
The US 10-year treasury note yield has started to creep upward again, climbing toward 2.85% as investors prepare for speeches from Fed Chair Powell and ECB President Lagarde today. Of the two, Powell may attract the most interest from investors with the next Fed decision less than two weeks away. Recent press speculation has been around a 0.5% increase and a start to Quantitative Tightening (ie similar to what the Bank of Canada announced last week), so investors may be looking for hints of whether that is still the course or if the Fed leader’s thinking has become more hawkish or more dovish lately.
SIA Wealth Market Outlook Webinar TODAY, April 21 at 2:00 pm EDT
Please join us on Thursday, April 21 @ 12pm MT / 2pm ET for our monthly Market Outlook Webinar.
SIA Wealth’s President, Ted Bader, will present: An update on our “Uncharted Waters” presentation from October 2021, why and how it will impact investors of today, and how to prepare for the storm amidst the geopolitical conflict
Register for the webinar: https://register.gotowebinar.com/register/4772936418097240332 After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar. A replay will be available and sent to all registrants after the webinar, with the presentation included.
