Wednesday's Close

E-mini S&P 500 Futures (September): Settled at 4231.50, down 4.75

E-mini Nasdaq-100 Futures (September): Settled at 14,263, up 4.75

U.S. benchmarks point higher ahead of the bell. Whereas the S&P is nearing a fresh record, the Nasdaq has now set one for the third straight session. So far, we’ve seen nothing to discourage our outright bullish bias. 

Yesterday was a quiet session as price action digested the strong rebound from last week’s lows. Progress on infrastructure talks in Washington hit the tape after the close and has underpinned recent strength. The first half of the week can be characterized by Fed speak, but infrastructure is now grabbing headlines, and so will the economic data. 

Flash PMIs were overall strong yesterday, but mixed versus expectations with Manufacturing beating and Services falling shy. Today, the final look at Q1 GDP was in line with expectations at 6.4%, but weekly Jobless Claims came in higher than expected at 411,000. After 2 straight weeks below 400,000 for the first time since the onset of the pandemic, the last 2 have been back above. Also, Durable Goods were softer than expected. 

This leads into comments from NY Fed President John Williams at 10:00 a.m. CT, a 7-Year Note auction at noon CT, and the Fed’s Bank Stress Test results at 3:30 p.m. CT. Tomorrow brings Core PCE, the Fed’s preferred inflation indicator.

Bill Baruch joined the TD Ameritrade Network yesterday to discuss markets.

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