Bullet Points, Highlights, Announcements
By Mark O’Brien, Senior Broker
General:
While inflation has cooled substantially since the middle of 2022 – when it hit a four-decade high of more than 9 percent – more recently progress has slowed, or even stopped outright as evidenced by the Labor Department’s report this morning that the Consumer Price Index rose 0.4 percent from November, the fastest one-month increase in overall prices since February. But in the same report, the “core” measure of inflation, which strips out volatile food and fuel prices to give a better sense of the underlying trend, rose 3.2 percent from a year earlier after three straight months of 3.3 percent gains. Forecasters had not expected core inflation to show signs of slowing.
Going into the fed’s next meeting later this month investors widely expect the central bank to hold interest rates steady, breaking a streak of three consecutive rate cuts. Some forecasters now believe policymakers may not lower rates at all this year.
Stock Indexes:
Stock index futures took this morning’s news positively with the March E-mini S&P 500 soaring over 100 points as of this typing, posting a ±2% gain. The E-mini Nasdaq scaled up ±500 points, over 2.25%, the E-mini Russell 2000 posted a gain of ±2% with a ±45-point climb and the E-mini Dow thrust up over 700 points/±1.75%.
More General:
The CME group has taken an almost unprecedented step and reduced their exchange fees on one of the fastest growing futures contracts by volume. Starting Feb. 1 Micro Bitcoin futures exchange fees will drop over 50% from $2.50 to $1.15.2025
Micro Ether futures, already with on for the CME Group’s lowest fees at $0.20, is dropping half to $0.10
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Energy:
WTI crude oil futures (Feb.) rose almost 3% today and traded over $80 per barrel for the first in six months on the heels yesterday’s Energy Information Administration (EIA) report showing crude oil stocks fell last week to their lowest since April 2022 as exports rose and imports fell. Excluding the Strategic Petroleum Reserve stocks fell by 2 million barrels to 412.7 million barrels in the week ended Dec. 10, about 6% below the five-year average for this time of year.
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