Fed Chair Powell has continued to emphasize his rhetoric that an acceleration in inflation through the summer is only expected to be transitory due to expected base data. Still, we didn't want to see the data run away and bring cause for policy to be reactionary.
U.S. benchmarks were pointing higher this morning ahead of both the bell and a long weekend. Tomorrow brings Nonfarm Payroll, but the NYSE is closed and index futures only trade through 8:15 a.m. CT due to the Good Friday holiday.
Constructive hold of support early in Thursday's session set the stage for a friendly Friday. This undeniably brought bullish technical tailwinds due to seller’s exhaustion, shorts covering, and fresh buying hitting the tape. Remember, this is a bull market.
Late last night, a U.S. health agency questioned the validity of AstraZeneca’s vaccine trials, saying the results included outdated data. To make matters worse, Germany followed through and announced a strict 5-day lockdown over Easter.
There’s been much debate about whether or not the reflation efforts would create inflation or if we’re just seeing a “normalization” in rates. We’ll see now, at these levels, if Treasuries pause and consolidate or continue to move lower as yields continue to climb.
It’s Fed Day: the committee’s policy decision, economic outlook, and interest rate projections are due at 1:00 p.m. CT. Yields of longer duration Treasuries are climbing as many analysts say a dovish Fed is simply not enough anymore.
The rotation out of risky assets and into the safe returns in Treasuries will slow. The bond market is telling us all that inflation is here. Once we embrace this inflation, gold prices will begin to march higher.
