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Briefing.com Summary:
*Persistent focus on energy prices
*Growing fears of stagflation in the U.K.
*Mixed batch of domestic economic data
The stock market has had a rough go of it this week, but it is not willing to go down without a fight as futures on the S&P 500 trade about 50 points above fair value after the benchmark index lost 1.0% between Monday and Thursday.
Crude oil's rally has paused around $95/bbl in overnight action, but global equity sentiment has remained pressured as investors evaluate the implications of higher energy costs around the world. The European Commission assured this morning that its reserve levels are ample, but talking down the price of oil has proven challenging.
President Trump made additional comments about the war with Iran, maintaining his belief that strikes will end soon.
Overnight action featured the release of U.K.'s January GDP report, which came in flat, fueling worries of potential stagflation that would prevent the Bank of England from cutting rates.
Meanwhile in the U.S., investors received the second estimates of Q4 GDP, alongside Personal Income/Outlays for January, and January Durable Orders.
Q4 GDP was revised down to 0.7% (Briefing.com consensus 1.4%) from the advance estimate of 1.4%. The GDP Price Deflator was revised to 3.8% from 3.6% in the advance estimate.
The key takeaway from the report is that growth decelerated notably in Q4 while the Price Deflator was revised higher, which is a disappointing combination.
Personal Income increased 0.4% month-over-month in January (Briefing.com consensus 0.4%) after rising 0.3% in December. Personal spending was also up 0.4% month-over-month (Briefing.com consensus 0.2%) following a 0.4% increase in December. The PCE Price Index rose 0.3% month-over-month (Briefing.com consensus 0.3%), while the core PCE Price Index, which excludes food and energy, rose 0.4% month-over-month (Briefing.com consensus 0.4%). On a year-over-year basis, the PCE Price Index increased 2.8% versus 2.9% in December, and the core PCE Price Index increased 3.1%, versus 3.0% in December.
The key takeaway from the report is that the Fed's preferred inflation measure, the core PCE Price Index, edged up in January, which presents a headwind to rate cut expectations.
Durable goods orders were flat month-over-month in January (Briefing.com consensus 0.7%). Excluding transportation, durable goods orders rose 0.4% month-over-month (Briefing.com consensus 0.5%) after increasing a revised 1.3% (from 0.9%) in December.
The key takeaway from the report is that the flat headline reading masked a solid 0.9% increase in nondefense capital goods orders, which is a proxy for business investment.
Treasuries started the day in mixed fashion with relative strength up front and a modest loss in the long bond. Meanwhile, the 10-yr yield is down two basis points at 4.25%.