Opening Comment — Tuesday, March 19, 2024
DJIA: 38,790.43, up 75.66
S&P 500: 5,149.42, up 32.33
NASDAQ: 16,103.45, up 130.28
Stocks lower ahead of housing data
Stock futures are lower on Tuesday, ahead of the release of February’s housing starts and building permits issued. March’s Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting is scheduled to begin today. The Dow is falling 0.2%, while the S&P 500 is down 0.4%. The Nasdaq 100 is decreasing 0.6% relative to fair value on the GLOBEX.
U.S. equities were higher on Monday, as investors evaluated March’s National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) Housing Market Index, which unexpectedly increased. The Dow was up 0.2%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite rose 0.8%. The S&P 500 increased 0.6% with nine of 11 sectors finishing in positive territory. The Communication Services sector gained the most, rising 3.0%.
On the data front today, housing starts for February are expected to be an annualized 1.44 million units, up from the prior month’s 1.33 million units, corresponding to an anticipated increase of 8.2% month-over-month (MoM) versus the prior month’s decrease of 14.8%. Meanwhile, February’s building permits issued are projected to be an annualized 1.50 million, up from the prior month’s revised reading of 1.49 million, corresponding to an expected increase of 0.5% MoM versus the prior month’s revised decrease of 0.3%. Treasury International Capital (TIC) foreign net transactions and net monthly inflows for January are also scheduled to be released today.
Across the pond, European stocks are higher in mid-day trading with the ZEW survey of eurozone expectations of economic growth increasing in March.
Overnight in Asia, stocks were mixed with the Bank of Japan (BoJ) deciding to end its negative interest rate policy, raising interest rates for the first time in 17 years and ending their yield curve control program. Finalized Japanese industrial production was revised to show a lesser slowdown in January. During their policy meeting, Australia’s central bank decided to hold interest rates steady at 4.35% for the third time. Hong Kong’s unemployment rate for February came in line with expectations.
In FOREX trading, the dollar is higher amid a flurry of central bank policy meetings this week, with the FOMC’s meeting concluding tomorrow.
Over in the commodity pits, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil is 0.3% lower at $82.51/barrel, influenced partly by expectations of increased supply from Russia and concerns about potentially sluggish demand in sectors like aviation fuel.
In the metals complex, gold is 0.3% lower at $2156.90/ounce following a strengthening dollar.