Opening Comment — Wednesday, April 15, 2026
DJIA: 48,535.99, up 317.74
S&P 500: 6,967.38, up 81.14
NASDAQ: 23,639.08, up 455.34
Stocks lower ahead of Beige Book
Stock futures are mostly lower Wednesday morning ahead of today’s release of the Federal Reserve’s (Fed’s) Beige Book survey of regional economic conditions, along with March import and export price data. As of 7:18 AM ET, the Dow is decreasing 0.1%, while the S&P 500 is flat. The Nasdaq 100 is falling 0.1% relative to fair value on the GLOBEX.
U.S. equities were higher on Tuesday as both the headline and core Producer Price Index (PPI) for March posted cooler than expected monthly gains of 0.5% and 0.1% month-over-month (MOM), respectively, following downwardly revised increases in the prior month. On a year over year (YOY) basis, headline and core PPI rose 4.0% and 3.8%, respectively. The Dow was up 0.7%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite rose 2.0%. The S&P 500 increased 1.2% with eight of 11 sectors finishing in positive territory. The Communication Services sector was the top performer, rising 3.2%, while the Energy sector was the bottom performer, falling 2.2%.
On the data front, the Mortgage Bankers Association’s gauge of mortgage applications increased by 1.8% for the week ending April 10 versus the prior week’s decrease of 0.8%. The New York Fed will release April’s Empire State Manufacturing Survey, with the headline general business conditions index forecasted to rise slightly to 0.0 from the prior month’s -0.2. The March Import Price Index is projected to have increased 2.3% MOM and 4.4% YOY, accelerating from the prior month’s 1.3% increase on both measures, while the Export Price Index is forecasted to have increased 1.5% MOM and 4.8% YOY, versus the prior month’s increases of 1.5% and 3.5%, respectively. The National Association of Home Builders’ Housing Market Index is forecasted to decrease to 37 for April from the prior month’s 38. Meanwhile, the Department of Energy’s measure of crude oil inventories is expected to have increased by 1.90 million barrels for the week ending April 10 versus the prior week’s increase of 3.08 million barrels.
Across the pond, European stocks are mostly lower in mid-day trading as the eurozone’s industrial production for February registered a greater-than-expected increase of 0.4% MOM and fell 0.6% YOY, less than expected. France’s finalized March Consumer Price Index was revised higher to 1.0% MOM, while the YOY rate remained unchanged at 1.7%.
Overnight in Asia, stocks were higher as South Korea’s Export Price Index registered increases of 16.3% MOM and 28.7% YOY in March, while the Import Price Index increased by 16.1% MOM and 18.4% YOY. Meanwhile, the country’s unemployment rate ticked down to 2.7% in March. Japan’s February core machine orders reported an increase of 13.6% MOM, defying expectations of a decline, and a greater-than-forecasted increase of 24.7% YOY.
In FOREX trading, the U.S. dollar is slightly higher as investors await today’s U.S. economic data.
Over in the commodity pits, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil is 1.3% higher at $92.43/barrel, retracing some of yesterday’s declines.
In the metals complex, gold is 0.8% lower at $4,802.23/ounce following a strengthening U.S. dollar.