Market Multiple Levels: S&P 500 Chart

What’s in Today’s Report:

  • Market Multiple Levels – S&P 500 Chart
  • VIX Breaks Longstanding Downtrend in Cautious Signal

Futures are modestly lower as persistent concerns about hawkish Fed policy and fading global growth overshadow positive Covid policy news out of China and encouraging EU economic data.

Economically, German Industrial Production was better than feared at -0.1% vs. (E) -0.6% while  Q3 Eurozone GDP topped estimates at 2.3% vs. (E) 2.1% Y/Y suggesting the EU economy may be stabilizing.

China’s NHC issued new guidelines on Covid restrictions overnight that eased certain testing and quarantine requirements and will hold a press conference tomorrow which points to the potential for more progress in moving away from Covid-Zero.

Looking into today session, there is one economic report before the bell: Productivity & Costs (E: 0.4%, 3.3%) and then Consumer Credit (E: 27.3B) will be released in the afternoon. The latter report is not one we typically follow closely but there has been increasing concern about the health of household balance sheets, so a sharp move higher in outstanding credit could raise concerns about defaults in the coming quarters.

Finally, there are no Fed speakers today but stocks have been taking queues from rate markets and the dollar so if either meaningfully move higher, that will add pressure to the broader equity market today.