(As of 7:20 am PST)
Markets appear relatively stable this morning despite a
disappointing durable goods report and a bizarre week last week that saw the
Nasdaq halted for half of a trading day. US durable goods orders disappointed, with
orders dropping 7.3% in July. A decline
was expected but not to that extent. A
sharp decline in orders for jetliners/aircrafts accounted for most of the
drop. Excluding transportation (a
volatile sector), orders fell only 0.6%.
Overall, despite the slowdown, the underlying report continues to
support a growing manufacturing sector.
Global markets are mixed with Asian indexes closing mostly higher except
for the Nikkei which finished down slightly.
Europe is also mixed. The Fed’s
Jackson Hole meeting wrapped up over the weekend. Sentiment out of the conference is that the
Fed will begin bond tapering as early as September. How much and when exactly still remains to be
seen, however the consensus is a return to “normal” monetary policy is desired
in the near term. Rates on the 10 yr.
treasury yield which have sky-rocketed the past 3 months on the ‘taper talk’
are slightly lower today. Gold and other
commodities are slightly down.
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