Building on yesterday’s gains of 0.2%-0.6%, US index futures are up 0.2%-0.3% this morning. European market action is mixed with Paris up 1.0%, Frankfurt up 0.5% and London down 0.3%. Energy commodities are rallying again with WTI crude oil up 0.6% and natural gas up 1.9%. In metals action, Copper is steady, while Gold is up 0.5%.
The 10-year US treasury note yield has dropped back under 4.00%, which may be removing a recent headwind for stocks. It’s otherwise a very quiet morning for business news with confession season quiet and the most notable drivers of premarket stock trading being analyst upgrades/downgrades.
The period of calm for news that has started the week ends today. Tomorrow the spotlight is on monetary policy with the Bank of Canada expected to raise its benchmark rate by 0.25%, the Reserve Bank of New Zealand expected to pause its rate hike program and the US Consumer Price Index report expected to shed some insight into how much pressure the Fed is under to resume raising interest rates when it meets later this month.
Thursday and Friday the focus then shifts to corporate earnings and guidance. Pepsico and Delta Air Lines kick off earnings season and then the floodgates open on Friday with several major banks and other senior companies set to report results.
