Concerns among investors that the Fed may remain hawkish in the wake of smaller than hoped declines in inflation, the departure of dove Lael Brainard from the central bank and hawkish comments from regional Fed Presidents Mester and Bullard (who historically have been in the hawkish camp anyway), continue to grow. This hawkish shift in sentiment has pushed the 10-year treasury note yield up toward 3.90%, and ignited a rally in the US Dollar putting a big headwind in front of stocks, commodities and other currencies.
Adding to yesterday’s US index declines of 1.2% to 1.8%, US index futures are down 0.4% to 0.8%, In Europe today, the Dax is down 0.7% and the FTSE is down 0.3%. Commodity trading finds WTI Crude Oil down 2.9% and Copper taking a 1.3% hit. In currency trading, Bitcoin is down 3.1%, Gold is down 0.8%, and the Euro, Canadian Dollar and Pound are all down about 0.4%.
Earnings reports released overnight and this morning have been mixed with Deere ($6.55 vs street $5.57) beating expectations, but Air Canada (-$0.61 vs street -$0.31) posting disappointing numbers.
New Video: SIA Wealth February Market Outlook
A replay of the SIA Wealth Market Outlook Webinar presentation Colin Cieszynski – Chief Market Strategist, discussing bullish and bearish market indicators including Golden Crosses, is now available.
YouTube Version: https://youtu.be/kBPMNhkKbnQ