North American News
Stocks in the US close lower
- Nasdaq up modestly
The major US stocks indices are closing the day mixed (the Nasdaq closed modestly higher)
- The S&P is down for the 4th consecutive day and is closing below the 4000 level.
- The Nasdaq snapped a 3 day decline
- The Dow was the worst performer with a decline of -0.25%
The final numbers are showing:
- Dow fell -83.26 points or -0.25% at 33046.34
- S&P index fell -6.08 points or -0.15% at 3991.27
- NASDAQ index rose 14.78 points or 0.13% at 11507.08
- Russell 2000 rose 6.45 points or 0.34% at 1894.67
Earnings after the close
eBay
- EPS $1.07 versus $1.06 estimate
- Revenues $2.51 billion versus $2.47 billion estimate
U.S. Treasury auctions off $43 billion of 5 year notes at a high yield of 4.109%
- WI level at the time of the auction 4.106%
- High-yield 4.109%
- WI level at the time of the auction 4.106%
- Tail 0.3 basis points
- Bid to cover 2.48X versus six-month average of 2.42X
- Directs (a measure of domestic demand) 19.03% versus six-month average of 17.5%
- Indirects (a measure of international demand) 69.95% versus six-month average of 65.9%
- Dealers (they take the rest) 11.02% versus six-month average of 16.6%
White House considers two Obama-era economists for Fed vice-chair
- Karen Dynan and Janice Eberly floated in the WSJ
The White House is considering Karen Dynan and Janice Eberly for the role of Fed vice chair, according to a WSJ report. Earlier reports suggested current Fed regional Presidents John Williams and Austan Goolsby for the job, among others. The shuffle comes as current vice-chair Lael Brainard leaves for the White House.
Dynan and Eberly are both professors and both served as Assistant Treasury Secretary for Economic Policy in the Obama administration.
The WSJ cites an interview with Dynan last month where she voiced sentiment similar to the main-stream thinking at the Fed.
“Inflation is subsiding, and there are reasons to believe it is going to subside further, but I don’t think any disinflation is going to be sustainable without some softening of labor demand,” she said.
Commodities
Gold bears eye a downside continuation
- Gold price is in a bearish trend and the FOMC minutes have fuelled a sell-off.
- Gold price’s weekly chart shows support near the 78.6% Fibonacci retracement level at $1,807.
Gold price is under pressure by some 0.3% on the day and remains in the hands o the bears following the first Federal Open Market Committee Minutes of 2023.
The minutes were released whereby investors have been searching for further insights into the near-term path for policy and any comments regarding the possibility of the Federal Reserve going back to 50 bps hikes. The minutes showed that a few participants had favoured raising rates by 50 basis points which has put a bid in the US Dollar but left the US Treasury Yield relatively stable. This has left the Gold price somewhat pressured around the low of the day near $1,825.54 after the yellow metal fell from a high of 41,846.05 earlier in the day.
WTI crude oil futures settle at $73.95
- Down $2.41 or -3.16%
WTI crude futures are settling at $73.95. That is down $2.41 or -3.16%. The low price has reached $73.83. The high price was way up at $76.51.
Looking at the daily chart, the prices trading within a triangle with a low target of $72.91, and topside target of $79.72.
Reuters:Russia is intending cut crude exports from its western ports by 1/4 in March/April
- Crude oil is trading at $75.55
Reuters is reporting that Russia is intending to cut crude exports from its western ports by 1/4 in March/April. Recall Russia voluntarily cut oil production by 500K BPD in March in response to sanctions.
EU News
European indices close lower on the day
- Spain’s Ibex and Italy’s FTSE MIB the weakest performers
The major European indices are going out lower. The Spain’s Ibex and Italy were the weakest. The German DAX closed unchanged:
- German DAX, unchanged
- France’s CAC, -0.13%
- UK’s FTSE 100 -0.59%
- Spain’s Ibex -0.86%
- Italy’s FTSE MIB -1.08%
In the European debt market, the benchmark 10 year yields are also lower:
- Germany 2.516% -3.6 basis points
- France 3.002%, -2.1 basis points
- UK 3.599% -3.1 basis points
- Spain 3.586% -2.9 basis points
- Italy 4.462% -1.4 basis points
Other News
FOMC meeting minutes: A few participants favoured raising rates by 50 basis points
- FOMC meeting minutes for the February 2023 meeting
- A few participants favored raising rates by 50 basis points
- All participants favored a 25 basis point hike
- All participants agreed more rate hikes needed to achieve federal open market committee’s job, inflation objectives
- Restrictive monetary policy needed until Fed confident inflation falling to 2%, added that process likely to take some time
- All participants favored further Fed balance sheet reductions under current plan
- Uncertainty associated with outlooks for economy, job market inflation was high
- Risks to economic outlook weighed to the downside
- Upside risks for inflation, including China’s economic reopening and Russia’s war in Ukraine
- Job market very tight, labor demand outstripping available supply
- Some participants saw elevated prospect of recession in 2023
- Continued tight labor market would contribute upward pressure to inflation
- Inflation in the last three months has eased, but they need to see more progress
- Drawn out US debt limit process could pose significant risks to financial system, economy
- Some members acknowledge financial conditions has eased of late
- Anticipated that consumption would likely grow at a subdued rate in 2022
In the markets:
- Dow Industrial Average up 101 points or 0.31%
- S&P index up 19.0 points or 0.47%
- NASDAQ index up 86.71.0.76 percent
- Russell 2000 up 14.86 points or 0.79%
In the debt market:
- 2 year yield 4.675% -5.2 basis points
- 5 year yield 4.133% -4.3 basis points
- 10 year yield 3.912% -4.4 basis points
- 30 year 3.924% -5.0 basis points
Cryptocurrency News
Shiba Inu price nears support where bulls can realizeze 25% upswing in SHIB
- Shiba Inu price takes a step back as stock markets and risk assets tank.
- SHIB bounces off an important trend line that has been present since December.
- Expect support to swing in and push price action higher with a test at $0.00001600 due.
Shiba Inu (SHIB) price has tanked over 4% since Tuesday as traders are getting worried about a potential plateau and rising inflation worldwide. Next to that, markets are reacting to another round of layoffs from a few big US companies, and more earnings are hitting the wires. Though sentiment might look negative, the current developments will prove why SHIB could rally 25% in the coming days.
Shiba Inu price is selling the rumor now and buying the fact later
Shiba Inu price sees opportunistic traders heading for the exit and cashing in on their profits after another strong rally since the beginning of February. A big line in the sand for the rally since January is coming from the orange ascending trend line, which is holding strong relevance in this rally. SHIB dropped lower before bouncing higher off that trendline.
SHIB traders will see smarter money enter the orange ascending trend line with a longer-term projection of when to get out. That makes each bounce in SHIB more successful and could cause a massive upside explosion in the near future. Once the bounce tops $0.00001400, the road is paved for $0.00001600 with a 25% gain.
Join Our Whats App Group for all the latest stock market news
https://chat.whatsapp.com/KuCI3obDFfz7J6QI8tK1fX
