Opening Comment — Tuesday, May 21, 2024
DJIA: 39,806.77, down 196.82
S&P 500: 5,308.13, up 4.86
NASDAQ: 16,794.88, up 108.91
Stocks flat ahead of further Fed commentary
Stock futures are mostly flat on Tuesday, ahead of comments from multiple Federal Reserve (Fed) speakers today about the economy and the financial markets. Investors are also looking forward to the Federal Open Market Committee’s (FOMC’s) May 1 meeting minutes, due tomorrow, and major economic releases scheduled for this week. The Dow and the S&P 500 are both little changed. The Nasdaq 100 is decreasing 0.1% relative to fair value on the GLOBEX.
U.S. equities were mixed on Monday, with the Nasdaq composite closing at a record high. investors looked forward to April housing data and the initial release for May’s Purchasing Managers’ Indexes (PMIs) scheduled for this week. The Dow was down 0.5%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite rose 0.7%. The S&P 500 increased 0.1% with four of 11 sectors finishing in positive territory. The Information Technology sector gained the most, rising 1.3%.
Across the pond, European stocks are mostly lower in mid-day trading with Germany’s April Producer Price Index (PPI) increasing less than projections on a monthly basis, while showing more deflation than expected on an annual basis.
Overnight in Asia, stocks were lower with Australia’s consumer confidence decreasing in May for the third consecutive month.
In FOREX trading, the dollar is little changed ahead of the FOMC meeting minutes scheduled to be released tomorrow.
Over in the commodity pits, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil is 1.3% lower at $78.73/barrel, as investors expect prolonged high U.S. inflation and interest rates to reduce consumer and industrial demand.
In the metals complex, gold is 0.7% lower at $2420.90/ounce.