(As of 7:10 am PST)
It’s another flat start on Wall Street with benchmarks
opening slightly lower to begin today’s session. The US economic data calendar
is light today with investors turning to news overseas for direction. A
disappointing announcement out of Europe greeted markets early after the
European Union slashed its growth forecast for the 18-country Eurozone region.
Gross domestic product (GDP) for the year was reduced to 0.8% from previously forecasted 1.2% growth,
with the European Commission citing lower-than-expected growth in Germany,
France, and Italy as the reason for the cut. This announcement
comes ahead of Thursday’s European Central Bank policy meeting. Investors are also keeping an eye on the situation with oil. Prices continue to fall rapidly, hitting multi-year lows after Saudi Arabia cut oil prices for the US, in a move
to stay competitive. Oil has been on a downward spiral for weeks now as
increasing US domestic production and a strengthening dollar has weighed on
commodity prices, including oil. Expect consolidation to continue throughout the week, with Thursday's ECB meeting and Friday's US non-farm payrolls report firming up direction.
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