Ratio of Technology stocks to the S&P 500 at an 18-year high.
Archives of “April 2019” month
rssRatio of Stocks to Commodities at a new all-time high.
US housing starts for March 1139K vs 1225K estimate
US housing starts for March from the Census Bureau
- Prior month report
- Housing starts prior month 1162K revised to 1142K
- Housing starts -0.3% vs 5.4% exp
- 6- month average 1189K
- Building permits 1269K vs 1300K exp
- Building permits prior 1291K unrevised at 1291K
- Permits -1.7% vs 0.7% exp
- Midwest starts fell -17.6%
- West rose 31.4%
- Single family starts fell -0.4% and permits were down -1.1%
- Multi family was unchanged after falling -2.7% last month
Easily the best thing I’ve read today
The BOJ has cut the amount of 10-25 year JGBs purchased at today’s operation
A reduction in its purchases in the 10 to 25 years remaining until maturity window.
160bn yen compared with 180bn last time around.
The last time the BOJ did similar was about 8 weeks ago.
Also a smaller purchase amount in 25 – 40 year window. 40bn yen vs. 50bn previous.
When the BOJ first reduced buying like this we saw a knee jerk yen strengthen, the reaction has diminished when they have done so recently though.
US stocks head to the long weekend after a modest rally
Closing changes for the main US equity indexes
- S&P 500 up 4.6 points to 2905
- Nasdaq flat
- DJIA up 110 points to 26,559
- Canada TSX Composite +0.3% to record high
The S&P 500 closed down 0.1% on the week. It’s only the third weekly loss of the year.
Thought For A Day
European share end with mixed results on the day
Yields are lower today
The European shares are ending the day higher on the day despite weaker Flash PMI data
- German Dax, rose 0.5%
- France’s CAC rose 0.25%
- UKs FTSE fell -0.1%
- Spain’s Ibex rose 0.6%
- Italy’s FTSE MIB fell -0.2%
Benchmark 10 year note yields fell today:
- Germany 0.024%, down -5.6 bps
- France, 0.37%, down -5.5 bps
- UK, 1.194%, -4.2 bps
- Spain 1.067%, -3.9 bps
- Italy 2.601%, -1.2 bps
In other markets as London/European traders look to exit:
- Spot gold is little changed at $1274.21
- WTI crude oil is down -$0.11 at $63.65
US stocks are mixed. The Nasdaq has been mostly lower today but is recovering. The Dow stocks have been leading:
- S&P, up 1.30 points or 0.05% at 2901.60
- Nasdaq down -14 points at 7981.90
- Dow +90 points at 26539.
The forex market has the JPY as the strongest and the NZD as the weakest. That was the leaders at the start of the day as well. The USD is also stronger.
Mueller report published
It’s out
Headlines:
- Trump not involved in underlying crime of collusion with Russia
- Says he lacks confidence to clear Trump of obstruction
- Trump told Mueller he had “no recollection” of possible Russian support
- Concluded Congress can determine Trump obstruction
- Trump said he didn’t recall learning about Trump Tower meeting
- Considered written answers from Trump inadequate and considered subpoena but decided against it
There is a great deal of focus on Trump but by now that’s old news. What’s notable to me, and could have some repercussions for RUB is the conclusion that it was Russian military intelligence that was behind the hacking and leaks.
USDCHF moves to the highest level since March 2017
Above 2018 high at 1.01276
The USDCHF moved above the 2018 high at 1.01276 and the March 2019 high at 1.01236. The high reached 1.0137. It is currently trading at 1.0130.
Looking at the 4 hour chart, the pair is moved aboved a channel trend line at 1.0103 currently. That level, and the 1.0092-97 will be levels to get below to weaken the technical bias.
Until, the broken levels give way (one by one), the buyers remain more in control. The pair has been racing higher since the weekend comments from SNB Jordan who said the central bank could still lower rate and/or intervene. The low this week was down at 1.0008.
