Alcoa’s (AA) earnings last night certainly helped set the stage. Many, including us at KOTM, were expecting a disappointing number from the aluminum-producer. AA posted a profit of $0.10 per share, compared with expectations for a loss of $0.04. AA is indicated 5.7% higher at $9.86 in the pre-market.
In currencies, we are not surprised to see EUR/USD higher this morning – as we wrote yesterday. EUR/USD prices showed surprising resiliency over the past two sessions to the sell off in risk. The pair gained 0.5% this morning to 1.3130. USD/JPY is toward the top of its tight range, holding just below the 81 figure.
Crude futures are higher this morning, though with inventory data out at 10:30 a.m. ET, prices may be reluctant to rebound further. Futures are up $0.30 to $101.32 at the moment. Bears continue to point to the $100 figure as a key level to the downside. We would not be surprised to see that level tested following the data this morning. Natural gas prices are also higher, by 0.2%.
Bond yields are slightly higher overnight as the 30-year bond prices are lower by 0.4%. 10-year note futures are down 0.2%.
At 2 p.m. ET, today, the Federal Reserve releases its Beige Book.