The JPY is the strongest and the GBP is the weakest as the North American session begins.
China economic news was weaker today.
FedEx after the close, announced a bunch of cost cutting measures. It is thought that as FedEx goes, so too goes the global economy.
Along those lines, UK retail sales showed the weakness with a decline of -1.6% vs -0.5% estimate. Yesterday the US retail sales also came in weaker (especially taking into consideration the revisions to the prior month)
Stocks are down in premarket trading in the US as bad news is no longer good news, but is truly bad news. The expectations are that earnings will be ratcheting lower and that will lead to lower prices.
The major indices are down in premarket trading and down this week (S&P closed down -4% for the week yesterday and is looking to tack on other declines today at the moment). Today is quadruple witching which can bring volatility along with volume in the stock market.
The Michigan sentiment index (a timely index of the state of the consumer) is set to be released at 10 AM ET. Included is a measure of current expecations, future expectations and 1 and 5 year inflation expectations - all of which is important as as the economy sits on the recessionary/stagflationary fence. It is the preliminary report of data received so far. The final will be released a week or two down the road.
A look at the market levels shows:
- spot gold is trading near unchanged at $1664.75
- spot silver is down $0.13 or -0.73% at $19.02
- WTI crude oil is trading at $85.99 which is up 1.05% on the day
- The price of bitcoin is up a little at $19,850 but remains below the $20,000 level at the start of the north American session
In the premarket for US stocks, major indices are lower after yesterdays declines:
- Dow industrial average is down -235 points after yesterdays -173.27 point decline
- S&P index is down -35.5 points after yesterdays -44.68 point decline
- NASDAQ index is down -121 points after yesterdays -167.3 point decline
In the European equity markets, the major indices are trading lower led by the German DAX:
- German DAX, -1.58%
- France's CAC -1.12%
- UK's FTSE 100 -0.20%
- Spain's Ibex -0.74%
- Italy's FTSE MIB -0.73%
In the US debt market, yields are mixed/little changed:
In the European debt market, the yields are tilting to the upside:
