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Crude oil and gold are extending their retreats
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (INDEXDJX:DJI) is pointed solidly higher ahead of the bell, as Wall Street wakes to a Republican-controlled Congress -- often seen as a boon for business. Outside of politics, traders will digest the latest payrolls figures from Automatic Data Processing (ADP), which some view as a precursor to Friday's highly anticipated government jobs report. Commodities will also remain in focus today, with both crude oil and gold on pace to extend their retreats, and speculators will keep an eye on Europe ahead of the European Central Bank's (ECB) meeting tomorrow.
And now, on to the numbers...
Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average (INDEXDJX:.DJI) are 89 points above fair value.
Market Statistics
The Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) saw 1.02 million call contracts traded on Tuesday, compared to 679,470 put contracts. The resultant single-session equity put/call ratio jumped to 0.67, while the 21-day moving average remained at 0.68.
Currencies and Commodities
- The U.S. dollar index is up 0.6% at 87.52.
- Crude oil is extending its journey into multi-year-low territory, down 0.2% at $77.02 per barrel.
- Gold is on pace for its sixth straight daily loss, down 2.2% at $1,141.60 an ounce.
Earnings and Economic Data
The monthly ADP employment report, the ISM services index, and the regularly scheduled crude inventories update are on today's docket. For earnings, Tesla Motors (TSLA), Time Warner (TWX), Whole Foods Market (WFM), CBS (CBS), Chesapeake Energy (CHK), Level 3 Communications (LVLT), Molycorp (MCP), Mondelez International (MDLZ), QUALCOMM (QCOM), Skullcandy (SKUL), VIVUS (VVUS), and Zillow (Z) will report.
Overseas Trading
Japan's Nikkei continued to barrel to new heights, tacking on 0.4% to notch a fresh seven-year peak. Other indexes weren't so fortunate, with Hong Kong's Hang Seng and China's Shanghai Composite shedding 0.6% and 0.4%, respectively, on lackluster data out of China's services sector. Likewise, South Korea's Kospi ended 0.2% lower.
European benchmarks are comfortably higher at midday, despite lackluster data on eurozone business growth and unemployment. Instead, traders are cheering a Republican Senate win in the U.S., which some view as favorable for business. At last check, London's FTSE 100 was 1.1% higher, Germany's DAX was up 1.4%, and France's CAC 40 was flirting with a 1.5% lead.
Unusual Put and Call Activity:
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