First Look
Markets are ticking lower ahead of the bell Wednesday morning. In his State of the Union address last night, President Trump called for bipartisanship in a speech with an underlying theme of unity. The President held firm on the demands to build a border wall, with no announcement that he will declare a national emergency in order to get the wall built. Instead, he called for congressional leaders to work together to reach a deal ahead of the Feb. 15 deadline, when another partial government shutdown could occur. President Trump also spoke on trade negotiations with China, saying that structural changes are needed to end unfair trade practices between the nations. U.S. futures remained relatively unchanged during and after the national address, with the President covering many topics, but providing little insight into how to accomplish the issues. The Nasdaq is up 0.09%, the Dow Jones is up 0.02%, the S&P 500 is down -0.04%.
Today's Sentiment
NeutralQuote of the Day
Peace is not absence of conflict, it is the ability to handle conflict by peaceful means.
Ronald Reagan
Daily Action Trade
Stocks on the Move
Capri Holdings Ltd (CPRI), Skyworks Solutions Inc (SWKS) and Microchip Technology Inc. (MCHP) are moving higher this morning, while Electronic Arts Inc. (EA), TAKE-TWO INTERACTIVE SOFTWARE, INC Common Stock (TTWO) and Activision Blizzard, Inc. (ATVI) are headed lower. Genpact Limited (G), Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (CHD) and Vodafone Group Plc (VOD) were upgraded by analysts this morning, while DowDuPont Inc (DWDP), Estee Lauder Companies Inc (EL) and Paypal Holdings Inc (PYPL) were downgraded.
International Markets
Stocks in Asia are up. The Shanghai Stock Exchange is closed for the Lunar New Year, as is the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. The Australia ASX All Ordinaries is up 0.39%, the Nikkei 225 is up 0.14% and the Mumbai Sensex is up 0.09%. Stocks in Europe are down. The DAX is down -0.47%, the CAC 40 is down -0.23%, the Euro Stoxx 50 is down -0.19% and the FTSE 100 is down -0.03%.
Futures & Currencies
Energy futures are mixed today. The price for West Texas Intermediate crude oil is down -0.03 at 53.63 per barrel. Brent crude is down -0.04 at 61.94 per barrel. Natural Gas is up 0.03 at 2.69. Precious metals are mixed this morning. Gold is down -1.61 at 1313.71 per ounce. Platinum is up 1.1 at 818.14 while silver is down -0.08 at 15.76. The dollar is mixed compared to the major currencies today. The greenback is up against the euro, down against the Yen and down against the Pound.
Put/Call Ratio
Yesterday, 1,065,048 call contracts traded on the Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) compared to 599,883 put contracts. The single-session put/call was 0.56 while the 20-day moving average is now at 0.63.
Today's Economic Calendar
| No. | What's Happening? | Period | Release Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | MBA Mortgage Applications Index | 02/02 | 07:00 |
| 2 | Trade Balance | Nov | 08:30 |
| 3 | Productivity - Prelim. | Q4 | 08:30 |
| 4 | Unit Labor Costs - Prelim. | Q4 | 08:30 |
| 5 | EIA Crude Oil Inventories | 02/02 | 10:30 |
