The major indices are opening higher but off their premarket futures implied levels:

Shares of Apple which fell sharply yesterday or up $1.33 or 1.05% at $126.40. Tesla shares are also higher but only by about $0.30 at $108.40.

Looking at the S&P components, energy is down -0.93% as crude oil prices slump by over 3% in trading today.

Financials (+1.14%), materials (+1.02%), and real estate (+0.95%) are leading the way to the upside.

At 10 AM, the ISM manufacturing PMI will be release with expectations at 48.5 versus 49.0 last month. Prices paid is expected at 42.6 versus 43.0 last month. Employment is expected at 48.3 versus 48.4 last month. New orders came in at 47.2 last month.

Also at 10 AM the JOLTS job openings are expected at 10.00M vs 10.334M last month. Lower job openings are a reflection of weakening job market but the number still remains near high levels.

The Federal Reserve or release the meeting minutes from the December meeting. The Fed increase rates by 50 basis points to a high target of 4.5% and targeted a terminal rate of 5.1%.

Feds Kashkari said today that he expects the terminal rate to be 5.4% before the Fed starts a period of steady policy to see the lag impact of feds actions to date.

The USD is the weakest of the major currencies with the AUDUSD the biggest mover (1.93% higher). The AUDUSD has moved above its 200 day moving average for the first time since June 2022. That MA comes in at 0.6855. The current price is at 0.6878. The pair has been helped by news that China would look to buy Australian coal.

AUDUSD
AUDUSD moved above its 200 day MA today