Intraday swings amounted to nothing for major US indices which finished Monday pretty much flat. Investors have continued to sit on their hands this morning with US index futures marginally positive, while in Europe, the FTSE is also flat while the Dax is down 0.2%.
Investors remain reluctant to commit to a direction ahead of tomorrow’s 2:00 pm EDT Fed decision on interest rates, statement and member projections for Fed Funds, GDP, employment and inflation. Traded interest rates remain elevated with the US 10-year Treasury Note Yield trading near 4.35%, just short of where it peaked in October of 2022, suggesting investors are expecting a neutral to hawkish overall tone from Governor Powell & Co.
Housing and inflation continue to dominate the economic reports. US housing starts were slightly less than expected (1.28M vs street 1.44M). Canadian Consumer Prices ticked up slightly (3.3% vs previous 3.2%).
Energy prices are on the rise ahead of this week’s inventory reports which are due tonight and tomorrow morning for Oil and Gasoline, then Thursday for Natural Gas. WTI Crude Oil is up 1.4% and trading above $92.50/bbl, while Natural Gas is up 1.7%. Metals action is mixed with Platinum up 1.6%, Copper down 0.8%, and Gold up 0.2%. Cryptocurrencies continue to climb with Bitcoin up 1.1%.
