Equity market trading has been mixed this morning, particularly in the US where NASDAQ futures are down 0.2%, adding to yesterday’s 0.6% loss, while Dow futures are up 0.1% following Monday’s flat finish. European indices are up slightly with the FTSE gaining 0.3% and the Dax up 0.1%. Rising interest rates with the US 10-year treasury note yield climbing to 1.95%, continue to put a headwind in front of equities as investors await Thursday’s US consumer price inflation report.
Meanwhile, signs that political tensions could ease with France trying to mediate the Russia-Ukraine situation and he US-Iran preparing to resume nuclear talks (which if successful could bring sanctioned supply back on to the market), have cooled oil prices a bit. WTI and Brent crude are both down about 1.50% and WTI dipped briefly back under $90.00/bbl. Weather influenced natural gas is up 2.6% so far today. Copper is down 0.8%.
Corporate news has been a mixed bag this morning, Cenovus Energy reported a loss for the quarter after taking a $1.9B writedown of some assets but reported increased revenues ($13.7B vs previous quarter $12.7B). Motorcycle maker Harley-Davidson posted a surprise profit (+$0.14 vs street -$0.38). Nvidia called off its planned purchase of chip design company Arm over regulatory hurdles, and beleaguered Peloton’s CEO resigned. Later today, earnings reports are due from Dupont, Chipotle and Lyft.
