An indecisive start to the week which saw the Dow Industrials lose 0.4% and the NASDAQ gain 0.5% on Monday has continued overnight and into this morning. The three main US index futures contracts are down 0.25%. Meanwhile, over in Europe, the Dax is down 0.3% while the FTSE is up 0.3%. Crude oil is up 1.25%, but metals are getting smashed with Copper down 1.4%, Silver down 2.4% and Gold down 0.75%.
Ongoing US debt ceiling talks are not the only thing that investors are dealing with at the moment. Lowes is down 1.5% in premarket trading this morning despite positive earnings ($3.67 vs street $3.45) after the retailer cut its sales guidance blaming lower lumber prices and consumers shifting their spending priorities away from home improvement.
Flash PMI reports from around the world have been rolling out overnight. Australia and Japan generally beat expectations, Continental Europe was mixed, and UK numbers were disappointing US Flash Manufacturing (street 50.0) and flash Service (street 52.6) are due at 9:45 am EDT, followed by US New Home Sales (street 665K) at 10:00 am EDT.
Two days of Canadian big bank earnings start tomorrow. Investors may look to the results for insights into the state of the Canadian economy, and into how much of an impact Canadian interest rate increases over the last year have had on the Canadian financial system. Comments on whether the recent crisis in US regional banking may have had on their international operations may be scrutinized.
