A strong start to the week which saw the NASDAQ gain 1.1% and the S&P 500 rally 0.65%, has slowed this morning. US index futures contracts are down 0.1%-0.4%, while over in Europe, the Dax is down 0.5%, while the FTSE is up 0.4%. Metals are also struggling with Gold down 0.7% and Copper down 0.4%.
Oracle shares are down 9.5% premarket after beating expectations on earnings but missing on sales, which may be dampening enthusiasm for stocks a bit. The most interesting market action overnight has been a resurgence in Cryptocurrencies since about midnight EDT. Bitcoin has rallied up off of a retest of $25,000 and is currently up about 4.4%, trading near $26,000, while Ethereum is up 4.25%.
It has been a quiet day for business news so far, but the rest of the week features a number of potentially significant announcements and events as investors prepare for next week’s Fed meeting. Highlights include US Consumer Prices Wednesday, followed by US Retail Sales, Producer Prices and an ECB meeting on Thursday, then Industrial Production for the US and China on Friday along with Chinese Retail Sales.
Ahead of weekly energy inventory reports due later today and this morning, energy contracts are rallying. WTI Crude Oil is up 1.1%, while Natural Gas is up 2.9%.