Monday February 27th

U.S. stock index futures rose Monday, as traders tried to recover some ground following the worst week of the year on Wall Street. Investors also looked ahead to another big week in retail earnings. Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 222 points, or 0.7%. S&P 500 futures were up 0.8%, and Nasdaq-100 futures rose 0.9%. The moves come follow Treasury yields easing after the The 2-year rate on Monday hit its highest level since July 2007. Stocks sank Friday and Treasury yields jumped following a bigger-than-expected increase in the latest reading for personal consumption expenditures, the Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation gauge. The early 2023 rally seems to be fading as investors absorb the minutes of the latest Fed meeting, which reiterated the central bank’s tough stance on inflation, as well as recent comments from Fed officials cautioning interest rates could rise higher and for longer than anticipated. “As we head into a seasonally weak period, with bets rising that the Fed may go with a 50bps increase instead of a 25bps in March, though still a minority opinion, the short-term market risk remains to the downside despite three straight weeks of losses,” said Louis Navellier, chairman and founder of growth investing firm Navellier & Associates. “The bears are dusting themselves off after getting sacked in January.” On the economic data front, durable goods orders fell in January as consumers pulled back spending on big-ticket items. In earnings, just 6% of the S&P 500 will report but investors are looking for insight into the consumer with several major retailers, restaurants, some travel and entertainment names as well as food companies set to report. Target, Costco, Lowe’s and Macy’s are some of the big names set to report earnings this week. Asia-Pacific markets mostly fell on Monday after stocks on Wall Street marked their worst week for 2023 on Friday. In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 closed 1.12% lower at 7,224.8. In South Korea, the Kospi finished 0.87% down at 2,402.64, and the Kosdaq rose 0.18% to end the day at 780.3. In Japan, the Nikkei 225 fell 0.11% to close at 27,423.96 and the Topix rose 0.22% to finish at 1992.78 as the Bank of Japan governor nominee Kazuo Ueda spoke to the country’s upper house on Monday. In mainland China, the Shenzhen Component dipped 0.73% to end the day at 11,701.94, and the Shanghai Composite fell 0.28% to close at 3,258.03. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index shed 0.17% in its final hour of trade, and the Hang Seng Tech index saw a similar loss at 0.19% down. Oil prices edged lower on Monday as a stronger dollar discouraged buying though losses were limited by supply concerns after Russia halted exports to Poland via a key pipeline. Benchmark Brent crude futures were down 25 cents, or 0.3%, at $82.91 a barrel. West Texas Intermediate U.S. crude futures traded at $76.13, down by 19 cents or 0.2%. Both benchmarks closed more than 90 cents higher on Friday. Gold hovered near a two-month low on Monday, after strong U.S. economic data sparked concern over further increases to interest rates by the Federal Reserve, clouding the outlook for zero-yielding bullion. Spot gold was nearly unchanged at $1,811.70 per ounce. U.S. gold futures was up just 0.1% at $1,819.10.