European stocks end higher
What's going on in the markets as London/European traders exit for the day.
First, stocks are mixed. In the European market, the major indices closed mostly higher with France and Portugal leading the way. The German Dax was up marginally. The Spain's Ibex was down marginally. UK FTSE closed mid range. In the US, the S&P is marginally lower, but the Dow and Nasdaq is higher. Below are the % high/low and current change of the major indices.
In the debt markets, the yields are moving higher which may be giving the stocks some cause for pause (losing some of the Goldilocks feeling as yields are up about 20 bps in the 10 year over the last 3 days).
In the European debt market, the yields are also higher. The France 10 year yield got close to moving back positive but backed off just ahead of the 0.0% level.
In the forex market, the AUD remains the strongest of the majors, but the USD has made up some ground and is pushing higher now against all the majors with the exception of the AUDUSD. The CHF, JPY and EUR are all fighting for the weakest currency of the day.
In other markets,,
- The higher dollar and higher US rates and hopes for China have Gold tumbling lower today. The price is down $-26.74 or -1.77% $1483.
- WTI crude oil futures are higher by $0.75 or 1.33% $57.29
Fundamentally,
- the Markit services PMI data was weaker than expectations, but the ISM nonmanufacturing index was stronger than expected.
- The JOLTS data was mixed
- US trade data showed a smaller deficit but it is still north of $52 billion.
Later this afternoon Dallas Fed's Kaplan will speak at 12:40 PM ET/1740 GMT.
The US treasury will auction off 3 year notes
Finally before the clock ticks 5 PM ET, New Zealand will release their 3rd quarter employment numbers (at 4:45 PM ET. I am glad they are not releasing at 5 PM ET as that was always a mess with end of day spreads). The employment change for the 3rd quarter is expected at 0.2% versus +0.7% in Q2. The unemployment rate is expected to rise to 4.1% from 3.9%.
