Wednesday’s heavy selling into the U.S. close seemed to affect potential recovery in Asia.
- MSCI Asia Pacific Index gained 0.2 percent
- Japan’s Topix index closed 0.9 percent higher as the yen weakened against the dollar
In Europe, the Stoxx 600 Index was 0.7 percent lower at 5:45 a.m. Eastern Time with real estate and mining shares leading the losses.
The US Senate is ready to pass a budget deal today avoiding government shutdown, suspending the federal debt ceiling until March 1, 2019 and adding nearly $300 billion for government programs. There is some opposition from members of the House of Representatives.
U.S. government debt remains under pressure, with the yield on the 10-year Treasury at 2.833 percent after the auction yesterday, and ahead of today’s $16 billion sale of 30-year obligations.
Important announcements today:
- Just after the Market opening, initial jobless claims posted a readings of 221,000 new claims in the first week of February which takes the 4-week average to 224,500 which is a 45-year low.
- Earnings announcements from notables Grubhub, Kellogg, Yum! Brands, Tyson Foods and Twitter
- Dunkin’ Brands host an investor and analyst day
- The EIA Natural Gas Report and the Bloomberg Consumer Confidence Index are due this morning.
