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Last Updated: 10-Feb-26 09:05 ET | Archive
Sitting tight
Briefing.com Summary:
*Treasury yields are down following this morning's economic data, which included some soft retail sales for December.
*A slate of earnings reports has generated mixed reactions.
*Bitcoin is little changed at the moment, which is helping to minimize broad market volatility.
The equity futures market is in a mixed state this morning, sitting tight after nice gains over the past two sessions. Its posture can be attributed to consolidation activity, just like it was ahead of yesterday's open. Of course, buyers ultimately re-emerged yesterday and drove the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the equal-weighted S&P 500 to new record highs.
Currently, the S&P 500 futures are flat and are trading in line with fair value, the Nasdaq 100 futures are up 20 points and are trading 0.1% above fair value, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average futures are down 16 points and are trading in line with fair value.
Something that is lower this morning is Treasury yields. The 2-yr note yield is down two basis points to 3.46%, and the 10-yr note yield is down four basis points to 4.16%.
Yields headed lower overnight thanks to some calming in the Japanese government bond market, which had been plagued by concerns over new supply that might be needed in conjunction with potential fiscal stimulus, but they moved a notch lower in the wake of this morning's economic data.
Total retail sales were unchanged month-over-month in December (Briefing.com consensus: 0.4%) following a 0.6% increase in November. Excluding autos, retail sales were also unchanged month-over-month (Briefing.com consensus: 0.4%) following a downwardly revised 0.4% increase (from 0.5%) in November.
The key takeaway from the report is that spending on goods was down across most discretionary categories following some decent-sized gains in November. That will foment some concern about consumer spending fatigue at the end of last year, which of course included the holiday shopping period.
Separately, the Q4 Employment Cost Index increased 0.7% (Briefing.com consensus: 0.8%), seasonally adjusted, for the three-month period ending in December 2025, following a 0.8% increase for the three-month period ending in September 2025.
The key takeaway from the report is that there was some moderation in employment costs on a year-over-year basis that will help temper inflation worries. The same goes for December import prices, which were unchanged year-over-year.
This data comes ahead of the January Employment Situation report, which will be released before Wednesday's open. That report will be in the back of the market's mind today, as it also directs its attention to a slate of mixed earnings reports, highlighted by losses in Coca-Cola (KO), Upwork (UPWK), Harley-Davidson (HOG), and S&P Global (SPGI) following their earnings results, and gains in Spotify (SPOT), DuPont (DD), Hasbro (HAS), and Marriott (MAR) following their results.
As for Bitcoin, it is down just 0.1% at $68,520, so it seems to be sitting tight for now, which is helping the stock market sit tight as well.
