“On the charts, gold has held support at the $1,900 area, but more dollar strength or rising yields would jeopardize the year to date gains,” analysts at Sevens Report Research said in Monday’s newsletter.
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Meanwhile, a consistent run of strong U.S. economic data has raised fears the Federal Reserve may need to push interest rates higher than previously expected and hold them there for longer than previously anticipated, while weekly government data last week showed a pullback in consumer fuel demand and a post-pandemic high in U.S. crude production, analysts at Sevens Report Research said in a note.
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“This scenario would essentially undermine the three pillars of the rally, and as such investors should expect a substantial decline in stocks, even considering the recent pullback,” Tom Essaye said in a note last week. “In fact, a decline of much more than 10% would be likely in this scenario, as it would undermine most of the rationale for the gains in stocks since June (and perhaps all of 2023).”
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What’s in Today’s Report:
Futures are little changed following a quiet night of news as markets digest the Wed/Thurs rally and focus turns to the start of the Q2 earnings season.
Economically, there was more evidence of global disinflation (or deflation) as German Wholesale Prices (think their PPI) declined –2.9% y/y vs. (-1.2%) y/y.
Today focus will be on earnings, as we get several major bank earnings results: JPM ($5.92), C ($1.31), WFC ($1.15), and BLK ($8.47) as well as UNH ($5.92). These large cap companies usually don’t provide too many surprises in their earnings reports, but markets will want to hear positive commentary on the overall environment to further support this latest rally in stocks.
There are also two notable inflation linked economic reports today, Import & Export Prices (E: -0.2%, -0.4%), Consumer Sentiment (E: 65.0), but barring any major surprises they shouldn’t move markets.
The whatever it takes’ mentality and display of unity by OPEC+ can help support oil prices in the near term” and the $70-a-barrel mark is looking to offer initial support again, Tyler Richey, co-editor at Sevens Report Research, told MarketWatch. Click here to read the full article.
The EIA’s report showed the four-week moving average of gasoline supplied, a proxy for demand, rising to the highest level since November 2021. That strong consumer demand trend is one of the reasons why WTI oil hasn’t dropped to new 2023 lows in recent weeks said Richey. Click here to read the full article.
If the current Fed is listening to Bernanke (and I imagine they are), then the Fed may be more focused on unemployment than anyone appreciates, that’s why there is 50 more basis points of hiking in store, probably regardless if CPI declines further, says Essaye. Click here to read the full article.
What’s in Today’s Report:
Stock futures are falling with global markets and yields are rising this morning after more hawkish central bank decisions overnight as focus turns to the BOE.
In Europe, monetary policy decisions were net hawkish as Norway’s central bank raised rates 50 bp vs. (E) 25 bp to 3.75% while the Swiss National Bank met estimates with a 25 bp hike to 1.75%. The rate hikes are pressuring global bond markets (yields higher) and weighing on sentiment, dragging equity markets lower.
Looking into today’s session, early focus will be on the Bank of England as a 25 bp hike to 4.75% in the benchmark policy rate is expected but there is risk of a 50 bp hike to 5.00% which would be another hawkish surprise for markets and likely result in rising yields and more pressure on overbought equity markets.
In the U.S. there are two economic reports to watch: Jobless Claims (E: 261K) and Existing Home Sales (E: 4.250M). A further rise in claims could bring into question whether or not the labor market is suddenly beginning to deteriorate meaningfully while strong housing data would warrant a hawkish reaction after the much better than expected Housing Starts print earlier this week.
From there, focus will turn to the Fed as Chair Powell continues his semi-annual Congressional testimony at 10:00 a.m. ET while Mester will speak around the same time (10:00 a.m. ET).
Finally, there is a 5-Yr TIPS auction at 1:00 p.m. ET that could offer insight to inflation expectations and move yields, but most of the market-moving news will likely hit before the lunch hour today.
Tyler Richey, co-editor at Sevens Report Research, pointed out that the EIA showed that the four-week moving average of gasoline supplied, a proxy for consumer fuel demand, rose to a new 18-month high of 9.24 million barrels a day. That suggests that the trend in gasoline demand is “one that is increasing, and that is a good thing for the time being,” he said. Click here to read the full article.
Prices had started the week moving higher after Saudi Arabia said it would cut output by an additional 1 million barrels per day in July. However, “traders faded the move,” as the Saudi cut would only remove one-third of a single day’s worth of global oil production over the course of July, said Tyler Richey, co-editor at Sevens Report Research. Click here to read the full article.
