Building on overseas rallies overnight and this morning that included gains of 2.6% for the Nikkei and the Hang Seng, 1.7% for the FTSE and 1.5% for the Dax, US index futures are up this morning including gains of 1.0% for Dow Futures, 1.4% for S&P Futures and 2.1% for NASDAQ futures.
We are also seeing relief rallies in in cryptocurrencies with Bitcoin soaring 7.7% and regaining $30,000 and Ethereum soaring 9.9% and regaining $2,000. Beleaguered crypto exchange stock Coinbase is up 13.3% premarket today. Energy contracts are also up today with WTI and Brent crude oil both gaining 1.8%. On the other hand, metals are struggling with Copper down 0.9% and Gold down 0.8%.
There was no major economic news overnight to spark such strong rebounds which suggests that this could be a relief rally, easing oversold conditions that had developed, sparked by a combination of bargain hunting and short covering ahead of the weekend. The only notable news since midday yesterday was comments from Fed Chair Powell on his confirmation for a second term that the US central bank may not be able to engineer a soft landing for the economy which suggested their fight against inflation may take precedence over saving the economy or the stock market this time.
Twitter is down 12.7% in premarket action after Elon Musk put his takeover bid on hold pending a review of the social media company’s accounts to determine how many are fake or bots, which previously had been estimated at less than 5% of total accounts. Today’s market action suggests fear among investors that Musk could potentially demand the takeover price be marked downward or that he could even possibly walk away from the deal.
SIA Wealth Market Outlook Webinar With Jeremy Fehr May 19 at 2:00 pm EDT
Please join us on Thursday, May 19 @ 12pm MT / 2pm ET for our monthly Market Outlook Webinar.
Join SIA Wealth CEO, Jeremy Fehr, as he discusses the ongoing R&D advancements implemented into SIA Wealth’s Mutual Fund and ETF mandates over the past two years, which have helped SIA Wealth successfully manage the current volatile market environment.
Register for the webinar: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/1522501870509059341
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar. A replay will be available and sent to all registrants after the webinar, with the presentation included.