US markets continue to consolidate the big rebound of the first two weeks of this month, and are currently trading flat to up 0.3%. European markets appear to be looking to finish the week strong with the Dax and FTSE both up about 0.8%. US Crude Oil is trying to bounce back from yesterday’s big selloff with a 1.4% bounce, while Gold and Copper are both up about 0.25%.
The first week of US retailer earnings season wrapped up last night with positive reports form Gap ($0.59 vs street $0.20, up 18.0% premarket), Copart ($0.34 vs street $0.33, up 3.4% premarket), and Ross Stores ($1.33 vs street $1.22, up 6.1% premarket). More retailer earnings are on the way next week as focus turns to Black Friday, the busiest day of the year for US shopping, which is a week from today.
There are no major economic reports today, or Monday for that matter, leaving investors with time to digest all the developments of recent days. There are four Fed speakers today, but lately traders have been ignoring central bankers who have generally stayed on the “fight against inflation is not over” track while the selloff in treasury yields has suggested that investors are ready to declare victory and move on to speculating on rate cuts. In the past when opinions have diverged this much, something has eventually given way but that could be a while with the next Fed meeting still about a month away.
