Daily Morning Report

Wednesday, July 24–Jim Wyckoff’s Morning Markets Report

OVERNIGHT DEVELOPMENTS

World stock markets were mixed to weaker overnight. U.S. stock indexes are pointed toward narrowly mixed openings when the New York day session begins.

U.S. President Trump is meeting with the European Union Commission leader Juncker today to try to de-escalate trade tensions between the U.S. and the EU. The U.S. has threatened EU automobiles with import tariffs.

In the currency markets, focus is on the Turkish lira, which has been under strong pressure. Also, the Chinese yuan has seen serious depreciation against the U.S. dollar in recent months.

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Tuesday, July 23–Jim Wyckoff’s Morning Markets Report

OVERNIGHT DEVELOPMENTS

World stock markets were mostly higher overnight. U.S. stock indexes are pointed toward higher openings when the New York day session begins.

In overnight news, the Euro zone Markit purchasing managers’ index composite (PMI) was reported at 54.3 in July from 54.9 in June. A number above 50.0 signals expansion in the sector.

Featured in the marketplace early this week is rising world government bond yields, on ideas the major central banks of the world will embark upon rolling back their heretofore easy monetary policies. Reports say the Bank of Japan is on the verge of scaling back its very accommodative policies.

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The corn and soybean futures markets last Friday posted technically bullish weekly high closes, following a good week of upside price action. These are chart clues those markets have finally put in market bottoms. However, the bulls still have some heavy lifting to do to suggest those markets can sustain a near-term price uptrend. It is my bias that corn and soybeans have bottomed out and that prices will trade at least sideways, if not sideways to higher, in the coming weeks. Stay tuned!

Monday, July 23–Jim Wyckoff’s Morning Markets Report

OVERNIGHT DEVELOPMENTS

World stock markets were mixed to mostly lower overnight. U.S. stock indexes are pointed toward slightly lower openings when the New York day session begins. The world stock markets showed a mildly bearish reaction to President Trump’s tweet late Sunday warning Iran not to threaten the U.S. or that country would suffer grave consequences.

A Group of 20 finance ministers meeting held during the weekend resulted in little markets-moving results. U.S. Treasury Secretary Mnuchin said the U.S. could indeed follow through with $500 billion in new trade sanctions against China.

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Friday, July 20–Jim Wyckoff’s Morning Markets Report

OVERNIGHT DEVELOPMENTS

World stock markets were mixed overnight, with European shares mostly down and Asian shares mostly up. U.S. stock indexes are pointed toward narrowly mixed openings when the New York day session begins.

The Chinese yuan currency hit another 12-month low against the U.S. dollar today after the Chinese central bank guided its currency down by 0.9%–the largest single-move depreciation against the dollar in two years. The yuan has declined by 2.3% against the greenback in July.

The marketplace is still buzzing about the CNBC interview with President Donald Trump, in which he criticized the Federal Reserve for raising interest rates. Trump said he is “not thrilled” about the recent U.S. interest rate hikes and is worried the progress his administration has made on the U.S. economy could be undone by higher rates. Trump also implied a stronger U.S. dollar could be disadvantageous for U.S. foreign trade. Still, he called Fed Chairman Jerome Powell a good man for the job. The U.S. dollar was pressured on the news, U.S. Treasuries rallied and gold and silver prices pared losses.

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The Comex gold futures market dropped to a 12-month low late this week as prices are in an accelerating downtrend on the daily bar chart. There are no early technical clues to suggest the yellow metal will put in a bottom any time soon–even though the market is now short-term oversold and due for a corrective bounce. The strong U.S. dollar and falling crude oil prices are bearish “outside market” forces working against the precious metals markets at present. Also, there is little risk aversion in the world marketplace so far this summer. Gold bulls need a good dose of new geopolitical uncertainty to boost the safe-haven metal. Stay tuned!