General:
Keep an eye out for a raft of economic reports tomorrow morning, all of which could create bumpy price movement in stock index, energy, interest-rate and other asset classes.
At 7:30 A.M., Central Time the Labor Department will release its weekly Initial jobless claims data, which looks at claims for unemployment benefits filed by unemployed individuals with state unemployment agencies.
At the same time, the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia will release its monthly Manufacturing Business Outlook Survey. The survey tracks business conditions and provides short-term forecasts in a specific region: the manufacturing sector in eastern and central Pennsylvania, southern New Jersey, and Delaware, it also provides insight into the manufacturing sector throughout the country.
Next, at 9:45 will be The S&P Purchasing managers’ index (PMI), which is comprised of data derived from monthly surveys of private sector company S&P Global. The S&P PMI survey covers manufacturing, services and some construction.
Then at 10:00, the National Association of Realtors will report on Existing Home Sales in the United States which measures the change in the number of existing residential buildings that were sold during the previous month. This report helps to gauge the strength of the U.S. housing market and is a key indicator of overall economic strength.
At the same time, The Conference Board will release its Leading Economic Index (LEI), another indicator designed to forecast future economic activity. The LEI can be used to anticipate economic turning points and guide trading strategies.
Livestock
Chicago Mercantile Exchange cattle futures continued their meteoric rise today as a tight supply of cattle, surging wholesale beef prices and a decrease in slaughter rates supported prices. CME October live cattle futures ended 3.750 cent higher at 235.175 cents per pound. September feeder cattle rose 6.375 cents to 358.800 cents per pound. Both closing prices represent all-time record high closing prices for the two futures contracts.
Energy
Crude oil futures traded higher after the Energy Information Agency reported a larger-than-expected 6 million barrel decline in U.S. crude oil inventories for last week. The new front month October futures contract traded to an intraday high of $63.01/barrel, up $1.24/barrel before falling back slightly to within pennies of its 100-day moving average: $62.63.
Despite near-term support from lower inventories, the longer-term outlook is bearish. A supply glut is expected as OPEC+ restores output and trade tensions are weighing on demand with industry executives exclaiming the return of previously curtailed oil production by OPEC+ members is cutting into U.S. shale growth. |