Posts Tagged ‘basis’

U.S. stocks look to recover slightly this morning after a miserable day yesterday. The S&P 500 fell 14 points to a seven-month low of 1,050; since April 26 the index has lost nearly 14% of its value. Ninety minutes before the opening bell, Dow futures are up 25 points to 9,819 and S&P 500 futures are 4.40 points higher at 1,052.40. The 2 year Treasury note yield is 2 basis points higher at 0.738% and the benchmark 10 year Treasury note is +4 basis points at 3.186% WTI crude oil is down $0.32 to $71.12 per barrel, but Spot Gold is up $7.73 to $1,247.98. Global equities are mixed. Stocks in Asia are up between 0.09% (China) to 0.56% (Hong Kong), but stocks in Europe are worse off with the FTSE 100 and CAC-40 off 0.91% and 0.90%, respectively. No U.S. data will hit the markets this morning...(read more)

The S&P 500 has shed 63 points or 5.61% over the past month, including a 3.44% slide on Friday. As a new week gets underway, equity futures are basically flat. One hour before the opening bell, Dow futures are up 1.00 point to 9,947 and S&P 500 futures are up 3.75 points to 1,069.75. The 2 year Treasury note is 2.4 basis points higher at 0.754% while the benchmark 10 year Treasury note yield is 2.7 basis points higher at 3.233%. The July delivery NYMEX crude oil contract is up $0.02 to $71.53, and Gold futures are off $4.20 to $1,212.00 Meanwhile, the euro continues to weaken against the dollar. Overnight it fell to $1.1877, its lowest level since March 2006. Worse, the euro fell to 108.08 yen, the lowest since November 2001. Markets on Friday sold off on a weak employment report. Prices...(read more)

Investors are timid ahead of the U.S. employment report for May. The numbers are supposed to be broadly positive, but an hour before the report, equity futures are sharply downwards following two straight days of gains. Ninety minutes before the opening bell, Dow futures are off 85 points to 10,173 and S&P 500 futures are down 8.00 points to 1,095.75. The 2-year Treasury note yield is 2 basis points lower at 0.802% and the benchmark 10-year Treasury note is 3bps lower at 3.34%. NYMEX crude oil is also down 0.39 to 74.20 Gold is off 1.40 to 1206.90. Overnight, the Euro fell below $1.21 for the first time since April 2006, and is now at $1.2118. Meantime, the US dollar index, a measure of the dollar against an array of currencies, slipped two basis points to 87.11 Key Events Today: 8:30 ...(read more)

Stock futures ticked higher overnight and look to extend the broad rally which pushed the S&P 2.58% higher yesterday. Ninety minutes before the opening bell, Dow futures are up 29 points to 10,261 and S&P 500 futures are up 3.75 points to 1,100.75. The 2-year Treasury note yield is 2.8 basis points higher at 0.845% while the benchmark 10-year Treasury noteyield is up 4.6 basis points at 3.395%. NYMEX crude oil futures are up 0.40 to $73.26 per barrel, but Gold futures are down 4.40 to $1,216.20. Global markets are also sharply higher, including a 3.24% gain in Japan’s Nikkei 225 and a 2.21% climb in France’s CAC 40. Most other markets are up more between 1% and 2%. China’s Shanghai index is the outlier, trading lower by 0.73%. The broad inclines occurred despite the…(read more)

Equity futures are sharply lower this morning ahead of several key data points for the U.S. “The whiff of uncertainty is still in the air on this Friday morning, ahead of a handful of U.S. economic data,” said economists at BMO. “Indeed, with the slew of data from Europe and China now out of the way this week, the focus returns squarely on North America and, in particular, the U.S.” Ninety minutes before the opening bell, Dow futures are off 64 points to 10,709 and S&P 500 futures are down 11.50 points to 1,145.25. The 2 year Treasury note is 2.5 basis points lower at 0.81% and the benchmark 10 year Treasury note is 3.6 basis points lower at 3.502%. The Fannie Mae 4.5 MBS coupon is +0-04 at 101-11. Meantime, the euro fell to as low as $1.2433USD overnight, its worst...(read more)

The broad stock market rally from yesterday appears to have fizzled out this morning, as equity futures are looking sharply lower ahead of a quiet data in new economic data. The S&P 500 jumped 4.4% yesterday as domestic stocks had their best single-day performance almost 14 months. This morning, however, optimism that a $1 trillion package for Europe is in place has been replaced by questions about how effective it will be. Ninety minutes before the opening bell today, Dow futures are down 81 points to 10,660 and S&P 500 futures are off 10.90 points to 1,145.70. The 2 year Treasury note yield is 4 basis points lower at 0.82% and the 10 year note yield is 5.7 basis points lower at 3.48%. WTI crude oil is down $1.17 to $75.63 per barrel, but Spot Gold is up $13.20 to $1,216.30. Key Events...(read more)

After a sharply lower open yesterday, stocks edged forward in the first hour and continued a steady climb throughout the day to end roughly 0.50% higher. Meantime, yields on Treasuries actually fell, with the 5-year bill ending the day 5 basis points lower at 2.40% and the 10 year note ending the day 3 basis points lower at 3.66%. On Tuesday morning ahead of key housing data, markets are mixed but mostly sideways near yesterday's closing marks. “So much for the doomsday scenario if health care reform was passed, as U.S. stocks, bonds and the dollar all rose yesterday ― the Dow extending a streak of nine gains in ten days,” noted BMO economist Jennifer Lee in an early note. At 8:20am, Dow futures are up 2 points at 10,727 while S&P 500 futures are down 0.25 points to 1162...(read more)

Stock futures are sharply lower this morning after strong gains yesterday. The negative turn is in part due to overseas news as the central bank in China hiked reserve ratios by 50 basis points ― for large banks the ratio is now 16.5% and for smaller banks it is 14.5%. The dollar rallied on the news but equities and commodities sank. The New York Times noted this was the second time China has raised reserve ratios in five weeks and that this decision “came earlier than most economists had expected.” The move could slow inflation, the report said, but could also trim consumer spending as heavy borrowing has been allowing for rapid development and sales. 90 minutes before the opening bell, Dow futures are down 62 points to 10,048 and futures on the S&P 500 are off 7.50 points...(read more)

Mortgage rates improved a few basis points yesterday. Lenders were somewhat subdued in passing along interest rate improvements though. This is a function of a few reasons. First, mortgage-backed securities prices have held to a tight range over the course of the week. The second reason is a bit more obvious, the FOMC meeting ended today at 2:15pm. This was a major market event, so it makes sense that lenders would be defensive ahead of a scheduled event that had the potential to move interest rates in either direction. Before getting to the impact of the FOMC on mortgage rates, allow me to recap the day's economic data releases. Early this morning, the Mortgage Bankers’ Association released their weekly applications index. The MBA survey covers over 50 percent of all US residential...(read more)

Although lender's adjusted mortgage loan pricing by a few basis points yesterday, for the most part mortgage rates were unchanged as the bond market failed to make much progress in either direction. In the absence of economic data and noteworthy events, it was a pretty boring session yesterday. Both benchmark Treasury yields and mortgage-backed securities prices did however manage to make marginal improvements, perhaps I should say they didn't get worse instead as gains were minimal. Slightly improved is better than slightly worse though right? The economic calendar is once again light today with the only significant data being the International Trade report. This data reports on the difference between the dollar amount of what our nation imports and the dollar amount of what our nation...(read more)