More Volatility
What’s in Today’s Report:
- What Drove Yesterday’s Selling (There’s a New Market Worry)
- Jobs Report Preview (Abbreviated Version)
- OPEC + Update
It’s another ugly morning as futures are down sharply on the same issue as Thursday: The growing spread of the coronavirus and fears of a larger economic slowdown.
There was no notable, new news overnight, but the virus continues to spread in the U.S. and the number cancelled travel plans and conferences/events continues to grow.
Economically, German Manufacturers’ Orders rose 5.5% vs. (E) 1.5%, although economic data is being ignored by markets right now (data this week has been better than feared).
Today the key is the jobs report, and the expectations are: Jobs: 175K, UE Rate: 3.6%, Wages: 0.3%/3.0%. A strong jobs report won’t arrest the coronavirus declines (the data will be viewed as dated) but a bad jobs report will make things worse, so we need to see a solid print this morning.
There are also multiple Fed speakers today, and while the market is increasingly expecting 0% rates and potentially QE (seriously), none of the speakers today are leadership so they shouldn’t shed any additional light on those topics. Today’s lineup includes: Evans & Mester (9:20 a.m. ET), Bullard (11:20 a.m. ET), Williams & Rosengren (2:00 p.m. ET), George (3:30 p.m. ET).