ICMarket

General Market Analysis 15/02/2024

Resilient US Stocks Rebound – Nasdaq up 1.3%

US Stock markets rallied strongly yesterday as investors just used Tuesday’s post CPI drops to find better levels to buy. Nvidia jumped above Alphabet as the third largest company on Wall Street and ride share giants Uber and Lyft surged, gaining 15% and 35% on the day respectively. The Dow finished the day up 0.4%, the S&P jumped 0.96% and the Nasdaq starred once again, rising 1.30%. US Treasury yields initially moved higher, however fell later in the day to close lower, the 2-year dropping 8 basis points to 4.578% and the 10-year lost 5 basis points closing at 4.267%. The dollar was relatively flat on the day having soared in the previous day’s trading, although was notably higher against the pound after weaker than expected inflation data in the UK. Oil dropped hard as US inventories increased, Brent losing 1.4%, down to $81.60 and WTI off 1.6% to $76.60. Gold remained offered against the greenback, dipping to its lowest level since December 13, although ultimately closing near opening levels around $1,992 per ounce.

The US Bulls Keep Running

US stock markets continue to drive higher as investors shrug off any reasons to sell and look to the positives to keep pushing the major indices towards fresh highs. Major indices bounced back strongly yesterday after CPI data on Tuesday pushed rate cut and easing monetary condition expectations further down the road. Investors are looking at the data and concluding that even though the print was higher than expected it wasn’t really earth shattering and therefore they are happy to jump back on the bull run. There are some fears out in the market however that Stocks could be reaching highs and may be due a correction soon and that CPI number may just be a small piece of the puzzle. Traders will continue to watch upcoming data for signs that the Fed will be holding fire on cuts for longer or indeed that growth outlook falls and recession fears escalate. However, for now it seems that most news is good news and the buy the dip mentality is here to stay.

Another Busy Calendar Day Ahead for Traders

It looks set to be a busy day ahead for traders across the trading sessions as the market has shrugged off the higher US inflation number and pushes forwards. The Focus will be on Australia early in the day with the latest release of employment data. Once again, there is tier 1 data due out of the UK in the London session, this time in the form of the GDP data and we are also set to hear from ECB President Christine LaGarde when she speaks in Brussels. It looks set to be another hectic day for traders in the US with several key data updates due out with the Retail Sales, Empire State Manufacturing and weekly unemployment claims data all set to be released at the same time. These numbers are followed later in the day by the Industrial Production numbers and investors will be hoping for strong results to keep the good times rolling as stock markets reach for new highs again.