Will This Bond Rally Continue?
After a couple of quiet sessions, stock index
futures sold off on news of Intel’s
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spending, and lowered guidance from Automatic Data Processing
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DuPont
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PowerRating). Concerns on corporate earnings took center stage as over 70 S&P
500 companies are scheduled to report results this week and this will help gauge
the pace of our economy. Producer prices in December came in flat vs.
expectations for a 0.3% rise, while the core PPI declined 0.3% vs. expectations
for a 0.1% gain. The results from the report show the limited pricing power by
companies and as a result, companies are hesitant to invest in new equipment. At
the close, the March S&Ps
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PowerRating) fell 8.29 to 921 and the March Nasdaq 100
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Treasuries continued to rally today as stocks took a tumble. Bonds also
received a boost from the Fed beige book report in which the Fed described the
U.S. economy as “sluggish”. The March 10-year contract
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to 113 10/32 and the 30 year contract
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Crude oil headed higher for the third consecutive session as the Department
of Energy revealed that supplies are near a 27-year low, thanks to the
continuing Venezuelan oil strike. February crude
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33.21.Â
Despite the weakness in stocks, gold fell for the third straight session.
February gold
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PowerRating) dropped 1.09 to 351.10. Gold did manage to find
support at its 20-day moving average.