First Look
Stocks are down before the open Thursday morning. President Trump is expected to meet with one of China’s chief negotiators Friday as officials work towards ‘memorandums of understanding’, in which a final trade deal between the two countries can be built. The meeting with the president will seek to extend the Mar. 1 deadline to allow for continued talks on trade. In meeting minutes released Wednesday afternoon, the Federal Reserve expressed uncertainty over raising interest rates again in 2019. The central bank also said reductions in the Federal Reserve’s asset holdings could end later this year. The Nasdaq is up 0.14%, the Dow Jones is up 0.08%, the S&P 500 is up 0.04%.
Today's Sentiment
NeutralQuote of the Day
Politics and power is a realm of relative influence.
Fareed Zakaria
Daily Action Trade
Stocks on the Move
Albemarle Corporation (ALB), Skyworks Solutions Inc (SWKS) and Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (AMD) are moving higher this morning, while TechnipFMC PLC (FTI), Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) and Nike Inc (NKE) are headed lower. Canon Inc (CAJ), Boston Beer Company Inc (SAM) and United States Steel Corporation (X) were upgraded by analysts this morning, while M&T Bank Corporation (MTB), Lennar Corporation (LEN) and Carbon Black Inc (CBLK) were downgraded.
International Markets
Stocks in Asia are mixed. The Mumbai Sensex is up 1.14%, the Australia ASX All Ordinaries is up 0.63%, the Hang Seng is up 0.41% the Nikkei 225 is up 0.15% and the Shanghai SE Composite Index is down -0.34%. In Europe stocks are mixed. The DAX is up 0.12%, the Euro Stoxx 50 is up 0.09%, the CAC 40 is down -0.06% and the FTSE 100 is down -0.93%.
Futures & Currencies
Energy futures are mixed today. The price for West Texas Intermediate crude oil is up 0.04 at 57.2 per barrel. Brent crude is down -0.03 at 67.05 per barrel. Natural Gas is up 0.04 at 2.68. Precious metals are down this morning. Gold is down -3.14 at 1335.3 per ounce. Platinum is down -5.78 at 821.64 while silver is down -0.29 at 15.99. The dollar is down compared to the major currencies today. The greenback is down against the euro, down against the Yen and down against the Pound.
Put/Call Ratio
Yesterday, 1,142,856 call contracts traded on the Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) compared to 621,668 put contracts. The single-session put/call was 0.54 while the 20-day moving average is now at 0.61.
Today's Economic Calendar
| No. | What's Happening? | Period | Release Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Durable Goods | Dec | 08:30 |
| 2 | Durable Orders | Dec | 08:30 |
| 3 | Initial Claims | 02/16 | 08:30 |
| 4 | Continuing Claims | 02/09 | 08:30 |
| 5 | Philadelphia Fed Index | Feb | 08:30 |
| 6 | Existing Home Sales | Jan | 10:00 |
| 7 | Leading Indicators | Jan | 10:00 |
| 8 | EIA Natural Gas Inventories | 02/16 | 10:30 |
| 9 | EIA Crude Oil Inventories | 02/16 | 11:00 |
