The early action on this fine Monday morning suggests that traders are still taking their cues from any/all headlines relating to Ebola. U.S. futures had been steady for much of the morning until a headline saying that a pediatric patient is evaluated crossed the wires. Almost instantly, futures doubled their losses on the news. And while the decline is not significant at this point, this reminds us that the algos are primed and ready to react to this story.
The big financial news today is the weekend report from the ECB stating that 25 of the 130 largest European banks failed the latest round of stress tests and will need to raise €24.6 billion in new capital. However, the bank notes that no major banks failed the stress tests and that more than €15 billion in new capital has already been raised.
Also in Europe, the latest German IFO Business Climate Index came in below expectations, falling for a sixth consecutive month.
In Brazil, the stock market is down more than -5% on news that incumbent president Dilma Rousseff defeated pro-business candidate Aécio Neves in Sunday’s runoff election.
And sticking with the global theme, there is a fair amount of chatter this morning about the Goldman report in which the firm reduced their forecast for oil demand. As such, traders will likely continue to watch the all-important $80 line in the sand for crude today.
Looking ahead, investors should remember that the FOMC begins its two-day meeting on Tuesday and is expected to announce the end of QEIII at the conclusion Wednesday afternoon. Note that there is no press conference scheduled for this meeting.
Here at home, investors will get a look at the Flash PMI at 9:45 am eastern and Pending Home Sales at 10:00 am. U.S. futures are ...