Markets digested upbeat retail sales figures this morning that were followed by disappointing manufacturing and housing reports. Additional housing data will be out later this week – tomorrow (housing starts) and Thursday (existing home sales) – which will paint a more complete picture of the overall market.
In currency markets, EUR/USD is at session highs after concerns over Spain’s fiscal situation pushed the pair below 1.30 early in the session. A daily close on the pair below the Ichimoku Cloud at 1.3054 could indicate further selling pressure in the sessions ahead. Gold is weaker on the session as well, down 0.7% to $1,649.10 per ounce.
Natural Gas has regained a $2-handle, trading up 1.3% at $2.007. Crude Oil is down 0.4% to $102.47.
My thinking is that we are basically done trading for the day. All-in-all, markets will look towards earnings reports tomorrow morning before the bell and to the Europe situation.