North American News
Another down day for US equities
- Major indices down for the fourth consecutive day
The major US indices are ending lower for the fourth consecutive day. The declines are led by the NASDAQ index which fell by -1.49%. The small-cap Russell index also was lower declining by -1.41%. The final numbers for the day are showing:
- Dow Industrial Average -162.94 points are -0.49% at 32757.55
- S&P index -34.70 points or -0.90% at 3817.65
- NASDAQ index -159.37 points or -1.49% at 10546.04
- Russell 2000-24.83 points or -1.41% at 1738.58
Some of the bigger decliners today included:
- Disney, -4.79%
- Meta-, -4.14%
- Game Stop -4.13%
- AirBNB, -4.06%
- Chewy -4.01%
- Uber -3.87%
- Chipotle -3.76%
Some winners today included:
- Wells Fargo +1.51%
- Bank of America +1.14%
- First Solar, +1.09%
- Exxon +0.91%
- Chevron +0.65%
- Tencent, +0.62%
- J.P. Morgan +0.58%
- Salesforce, +0.57%
US NAHB housing market index 31 vs 34 expected
- US home builder sentiment survey
- Prior was 33
- Current sales 36 vs 39
- Next six months 35 vs 31
- Prospective buyers 20 vs 20
US House committee refers Trump to DOJ for prosecution
- We will see where it goes
The House Jan 6 committeee in a 9-0 vote approved a report recommending criminal referrals for Trump.
Here are the PredictIt numbers for Trump vs DeSantis for the Republican nomination. As recently as last month Trump was ahead.
The charges would be:
1) Obstruction of an official proceeding
2) Conspiracy to defraud the US
3) Conspiracy to make a false statement
4) “Incite,” “assist” or “aid and comfort” an insurrection
Commodities
Gold lifted by lower US inflation, Dollar and yields – ANZ
Lower than expected inflation in the US is putting downward pressure on the USD. This, along with lower real yields, is allowing gold to retest $1,800, economists at ANZ Bank report.
Strategic buying of Gold ETFs has not emerged
“Retreating US inflation triggered a US Dollar sell-off, which in turn supported the Gold price. US benchmark real yields are also levelling-off from a recent high, narrowing opportunity costs. That said, inflation is hovering well above the Federal Reserve’s target of 2%, leaving little hope of the Fed turning dovish anytime soon.”
“Short covering of investor positions has been driving the Gold price, but strategic positioning of ETF holdings has not been strong.”
“Physical demand is weakening as seen in the spot premium’s retreat from October, but official purchases are holding up.”
Crude oil settles at $75.19
- Up $0.90 or 1.21%
The price of WTI crude futures settled at $75.19 today. That was up $0.90 or 1.21%. The high price today read $76.60. Low price was at $74.21.
Looking at the hourly chart below, the price has been trading above and below its 100 hour moving average currently at $75.74. And the high price was able to extend above a downward sloping trendline on the top side. However the 50% midpoint fell short of the 50% midpoint of the move down from the December high (reached on December 1) to the December low (from December 9). The midpoint level comes in at $76.64. The high price fell short by four cents.
EU News
European equity close: A small bounce after a tough week
- Closing changes in the major European bourses
It was a rough one last week and this isn’t a big bounce but at least it’s a bounce.
- Stoxx 600 +0.4%
- German DAX +0.4%
- France’s CAC, +0.4%
- UK’s FTSE 100 +0.5%
- Spain’s Ibex +0.4%
- Italy’s FTSE MIB +0.1%
EU energy commissioner: Filling gas storage next year will be harder than this year
- I don’t think the market realizes this
There’s a real sentiment out there that the European energy crisis has peaked but I’m not sure that’s the case. A lot of the natural gas that went into storage this spring/summer was from Russia but those taps are now turned off and it will all have to come from LNG this year.
The EU energy commissioner is highlighting how flimsy the cap is, saying it can be suspended.
Other News
Goldman Sachs reiterates forecast for Fed funds to peak at 5.00-5.25%
- Goldman Sachs sees three more 25 bps hikes
It’s not just the Fed that’s fighting the market, Goldman Sachs economists are too.
“Our economists continue to expect three additional rate hikes of 25 basis points each in February, March and May, for a peak funds rate of 5-5.25%. We see the FOMC’s overriding goal as continuing what it has successfully begun in 2022, maintaining a below-potential growth pace that steadily narrows the jobs-workers gap,” they write.
In terms of growth, Goldman sees the US economy expanding by 1.1% in 2023, which is well-above the 1.1% consensus. But Goldman Sachs itself highlights some of the risks as the firm is planning to lay off 8% of staff.
Cryptocurrency News
Binance to buy US assets of Voyager Digital out of bankruptcy, initially sold to FTX
- FTX originally owned the assets
The US assets of Voyageur Digital were originally sold to FTX in bankruptcy but that deal fell apart along with FTX. In a second sale, Binance picked up the assets for $1.022 billion, which the company said was the best bid.
The assets, where are almost entirely crypto, were initially sold to FTX for $1.4 billion.
“Binance.US will make a $10 million good faith deposit and will reimburse Voyager for certain expenses up to a maximum of $15 million. Should the deal not close by April 18, 2023 subject to a one-month extension, the agreement allows Voyager to immediately move to return value to customers,” the announcement says.
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