Today is another day when the market is grinding higher despite the geopolitical potential headwinds. The most recent news includes the acrimonious ending to the G-7 meeting over the weekend and the U.S.-North Korea summit meeting that will take place today.
The DOW reached a low of down 26 in mid-morning on declines in MCD after its strong showing last week. AAPL and INTC are dipping today. However, the DOW has turned around to the upside and recently reached its best level of the session with a gain of 80. It is being led by gains in BA, HD and UNH at new highs. The NASDAQ is up again with a 23 point advance to 769 which is also its best ever level and the S&P is doing well with a 9 point advance to 2788. The NASDAQ is being led by AMZN, FB, BIDU, TSLA, GOOG and ISRG at a new high.
Breadth numbers are positive at a 1.5 to 1 upside ratio. Once again, the VIX refuses to go lower for the second day in a row despite the higher averages. It is now at 12.26 for a gain of .08. It this pattern continues, the market can keep advancing.
In addition to the G-7 and North Korea summit, big events should include the inflation reports and retail sales. Of course, the Fed interest rate raise is due on Wednesday for the second time this year. We also have the E.C.B. on Thursday that should tell everyone how much are they going to decrease their bond buying stimulus program. On Monday we will hear from the Bank of Japan as to what its intentions are going to be relative to the stimulus. They will probably keep it in effect due to the slow economy and low inflation in that country.
Bond yields are higher here with the 10-year Treasury Note at 2.97% and the 2-year is 2.53%. The Euro is slightly higher at 1.178 and the Japanese yen is a little weaker at 110.1. Gold is going up a bit, now at $1,304 an ounce. Crude oil is also higher at $66.02 a barrel.
Donald M. Selkin
These are excerpts from Don Selkin’s Daily Market Notes, abbreviated and updated with permission from the author. Don Selkin is the Chief Market Strategist at Newbridge Securities Corporation, member FINRA/SIPC and provides the Fair Value analysis for CNBC each morning. The commentary provided in this Market Letter is intended to provide timely market analysis and should not be considered a research report. This Market Letter may contain, and is limited to: Discussions of broad based indices; Commentaries on economic, political or market conditions; Technical analyses concerning the demand and supply for a sector, index or industry based in trading volume and price; Statistical summaries of multiple companies’ financial data, including listings of current ratings; and, Recommendations regarding increasing or decreasing holdings in particular industries or securities. This Market Letter does not make a financial or investment recommendation or otherwise promotes a product or service of the firm. This Market Letter contains only news, facts, and commentary on information previously reported from a news source believed to be accurate and reliable by the author. These news sources include the following: Bloomberg Financial, Reuters, and the Associated Press.