Israeli forces are proceeding slowly in the ground attack on Gaza. This approach is in contrast to the past weeks of continuous airstrikes. The cautious strategy allows for possible negotiations with Hamas for hostage release. Over 200 hostages are currently held.
The Fed is set to kick off a two day monetary policy meeting today, at the end of which it is widely expected to hold interest rates steady, according to CME Group's Fedwatch tool. Treasury trust #
TLT is up 0.88% and the 10 year yield is down to 4.844%.
Bearish sentiment intensified in US and global equity markets last week, with traders increasing their shsort positions in various stock benchmarkes, according to Citigroup strategists. Last week was dominated by "considerable new shorts" and no new longs in the S&P 500 index and Nasdaq 100, strategist Chris Montagu said. This heightened bearish positioning is attributed to ongoing macroeconomic and geopolitical uncertainties, with limited signs of optimism seen in the market.
Dow component Apple's (#AAPL -0.38%) updated Mac computers got mixed reviews from analysts. Nvidia (#NVDA -2.11%) slips on report it may have to cancel $5 billion worth of China orders. Pfizer (#PFE -1.05%) posts Q3 loss, flags impact of Covid product charges. Dow component Caterpillar (#CAT -5.10%) turns negative as soft sales outlook outweighs Q3 beat.
There are 4 corners that are still dragging the market, they are geopolitical and war uncertainties, higher for longer interest rates, slow global economy and high valuations on mega tech stocks. AAPL earning report is the event to worry about. Its high valuation and slow projected growth for the next 5 years is worrisome. Regardless of good or bad earnings for the last quarter due this Thursday, a sell off is likely.
After yesterday's oversold bounce, US stocks trade in narrow ranges. Weaknesses in CAT, NVDA and AAPL are drags for the market. Major market indexes are all below their 200 day moving averages, their over all trend are down. For the S&P 500, the rsistances are 4200 then 200 day moving average level at 4242, support is 4100. Trends for Bitcoin and Gold are up.