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A surge in Greece's 10-year bond yields has European markets sharply lower
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (INDEXDJX:DJI) is bracing for another triple-digit drop right out of the gate, with futures down roughly 207 points at last check. Elsewhere, crude oil is poised to extend its recent rout ahead of today's weekly inventories update, with futures down nearly 2%, after earlier breaching the round-number $80 mark.
In today's trading, Wall Street will be digesting the latest quarterly earnings reports from such notables as Goldman Sachs Group Inc (NYSE:GS) and UnitedHealth Group Inc. (NYSE:UNH). On the economic front, updates on employment, factory activity, and housing are all due. Additionally, no fewer than five Federal Reserve officials are slated to take the podium, with Philadelphia Fed President Charles Plosser warning that policymakers should "prepare the markets for the fact that interest rates may begin to increase sooner than previously anticipated."
And now, on to the numbers...
Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average (INDEXDJX:.DJI) are nearly 207 points below fair value.
Market Statistics
The Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) saw 1.5 million call contracts traded on Wednesday, compared to 1.2 million put contracts. The resultant single-session equity put/call ratio fell to 0.76, while the 21-day moving average remained at 0.69.
Currencies and Commodities
- The U.S. dollar index is 0.06% higher at 85.20.
- Crude oil is eyeing another day of losses, down 1.9% at $80.24 per barrel.
- Gold, meanwhile, is 0.2% lower at $1,242.70 per ounce.
Earnings and Economic Data
Today's docket is jam-packed, with weekly jobless claims, the weekly crude inventories data, the Philadelphia Fed's manufacturing survey, the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) housing market index, and reports on industrial production and capacity utilization all being released. GS, UNH, Google (GOOGL), Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), Delta Air Lines (DAL), Fifth Third Bancorp (FITB), Mattel (MAT), Philip Morris (PM), QLogic (QLGC), SanDisk (SNDK), Schlumberger (SLB), Supervalu (SVU), and WD-40 (WDFC) will report earnings.
Overseas Trading
Markets in Asia followed their U.S. counterparts into the red today, as fear mounted over the global economy and the spread of Ebola. In Japan, the Nikkei closed 2.2% lower at a more than four-month low, amid a strengthening yen. Elsewhere, China's Shanghai Composite gave back 0.7%, despite reports showing the region's banks gave out more loans than expected in September. Hong Kong's Hang Seng, meanwhile, surrendered 1%, while South Korea's Kospi fell 0.4% after the country's finance minister expressed concern over future growth.
It's a similar set-up across the pond, where European bourses are decidedly lower at midday. Stoking the bearish flames is a steep plunge in Greece's 10-year bond yields, despite the European Commission's promises to assist the country when the current bailout program expires at the end of the calendar year. At last check, the French CAC was down 2.4%, while the German DAX and London's FTSE 100 were each 1.7% lower.
Unusual Put and Call Activity:
Due to issues with our data provider, the Unusual Put and Call charts are unavailable today. We apologize for any inconvenience.