US indices closed mixed on Wednesday. Shares in the Health Care Equipment & Services (-1.43%), Semiconductors & Semiconductor Equipment (-0.99%) and Household & Personal Products (-0.77%) sectors lost traction while shares in the Capital Goods (+0.61%), Banks (+0.57%) and Energy (+0.39%) sectors gained a bit of momentum. On the economic data front, mortgage applications increased by 5.3% in week ended February 22nd from 3.6% in the previous week. In other news, the wholesale inventories improved by 1.1% MoM in December (estimated 0.4%) compared to 0.3% in November. Pending home sales advanced by 4.6% MoM in January (forecasted 1%) from a decline of 2.3% in December. Also, factory orders improved by 0.1% in December (expected 0.6%) vs. -0.5% in November while durable goods orders increased by 1.2% in December compared to 0.7% a month earlier. The S&P 500 (2,792.38) stays above its 20d moving average (2,747.15 – positive slope) and 50d moving average (2,633.93 – positive slope).
European markets are expected to start on a flat note.
Foreign Exchange
The US dollar was bullish against most of its major pairs on Wednesday with the exception of the CAD and the GBP. On the economic data front, mortgage applications increased by 5.3% in week ended February 22nd from 3.6% in the previous week. In other news, the wholesale inventories improved by 1.1% MoM in December (estimated 0.4%) compared to 0.3% in November. Pending home sales advanced by 4.6% MoM in January (forecasted 1%) from a decline of 2.3% in December. Also, factory orders improved by 0.1% in December (expected 0.6%) vs. -0.5% in November while durable goods orders increased by 1.2% in December compared to 0.7% a month earlier.
The Euro was mixed against its major pairs. The euro zone M3 money supply growth was 3.8% in January (+4% expected) vs 4.1% a month earlier. Separately, the consumer confidence index was -7.4 in February in final estimation, as in first one and vs -7.9 in January.
The Australian dollar was bearish against all of its major pairs.
Commodities
After the close of Wall Street, WTI Crude Future (APR 19) was up $1.5 to $56.98. The contract was above its 20D MA (@ $55.02) and above its 50D MA (@ $52.1). The US Department of Energy reported that, for the week ended 22 February, crude oil inventories fell 8647k barrels compared to the previous week.
Gold was down $9.1 to $1319.9. The precious metal was below its 20D MA (@ $1320) and above its 50D MA (@ $1299).
Copper Future (MAY 19) on Comex was up 1.6c to 296.6c/lb. The contract was above its 20D MA (@ 284.61c) and above its 50D MA (@ 274.46c). The 14d RSI above 70 (72.01) indicates Copper Future (MAY 19) contract was overbought. In Europe, the London Metal Exchange reported its copper inventories decreased 2150 tons to 130925 tons.