Commodity markets have been particularly active this morning. Natural Gas is up another 4.0% in the wake of yesterday’s big east coast storm and cold temperatures. Meanwhile WTI crude oil is up 2.3% this morning after OPEC producers indicated 99% compliance with current production quotas. On the other hand, metals are under pressure. Silver is down 5.75%, giving back much of yesterday’s early spike as new interest subsides. Meanwhile, platinum is down 2.6%, gold is down 1.1% and copper is down 0.5%.
Speaking of recent investor interest fading, after almost reaching the $500 level in intraday trading last week, Gamestop continues to fall back this morning, falling 40.8% in premarket action to trade near $133.50. Other recent movers apparently falling back to Earth today include AMC Entertainment down 32.7% premarket and Blackberry down 9.0% premarket.
Large cap indices are on the rise this morning. US index futures are all up about 0.7%, adding to yesterday’s gains of 2.5% for the NASDAQ and 1.6% for the S&P 500. Overseas, the Hang Seng gained 1.25%, the Dax and Nikkei are up 1.0%, and the FTSE is up 0.6%,
US earnings season resumes today with mixed results. Companies beating expectations include Exxon Mobil ($0.03 vs street $0.01) and UPS ($2.66 vs street $2.14). Companies reporting disappointing results include Harley Davidson (-$0.63 vs street +$0.14) and Pfizer ($0.42 vs street $0.48).
After the close today, results are due from Amazon.com, Alphabet (Google), Pinterest, Electronic Arts, and Chipotle Mexican Grill.
It’s a relatively quiet day for economic news in between yesterday’s flurry of Manufacturing PMI reports and tomorrow’s Service PMI reports. US ADP payrolls are due at 8:15 am EST Wednesday with the street expecting and increase of 45K for January in a rebound from December’s 123K decline.
