Markets were relatively quiet yesterday as the data reinforced speculation that the Federal Reserve may be able to cut rates this year.
Recurring applications for jobless benefits rose to the highest level since the end of 2021, a potential warning sign that it is taking longer for unemployed to find a job. This data is notoriously volatile but offers evidence that the economy is moving in the direction that the Federal Reserve desires.
Factory orders, which also are volatile, unexpectedly declined in May and both wholesale and retail inventories rose more than expected.
Changing topics, Goldman Sachs writes that this month’s selling in the tech sector is on track to be the largest on record going back in data since 2017. This is in sharp contrast to the record inflows seen into tech-related funds last week.
The markets perhaps got a taste of what a reckoning for NVDA might look like when the chipmaker, seemingly out of the blue, plunged 13% over the span of just three days, erasing $430 billion in market value.
The shares have snapped back on Tuesday and Wednesday recouping about half of their losses.
Markets were quiet perhaps ahead of the debate, a debate that has a gazillion potential plausible outcomes. Treasuries rallied across the spectrum on the data ahead of today’s monthly PCE data.
Last night the foreign markets were up. London was up 0.59%, Paris down 0.24% and Frankfurt up 0.68%. China was up 0.71%, Japan up 0.61% and Hang Seng up 0.01%.
Dow and NASADQ futures are flat and up 0.35%, respectively ahead of today’s release of the monthly PCE or inflation data. The 10-year is off 5/32 to yield 4.30%. It appears there is no reaction to last night’s debate, the outcome of which may be debated for many years.
