Morning Market Report

Markets are taking a step back today following several days of up movements. The Dow is off about 70 points and the S&P 500 and NASDAQ are also off similarly. Meanwhile, consumer confidence and inflation just came out this morning.

Inflation at the consumer level rose more slowly than expected in December, while the manufacturing sector showed continued signs of improvement, according to the latest economic reports out Friday.


US consumer prices rose 0.1 percent last month after rising 0.4 percent in November, the Labor Department said. Analysts polled by Reuters had forecast consumer prices rising 0.2 percent in December.

The tame inflation numbers are leading bonds better. The ten year U.S. Treasury bond is now at 3.66%. That's better by about seven basis points. The yield spread between the two and ten year is slightly tighter this morning at 2.79% but still challenges all time highs each and every day. The three month t bill is at .046%, or just slightly worse.

Oil is trading down slightly as well. It's just over $79 a barrel at $79.02 and weaker by 37 cents this morning. Meanwhile, Gold is trading at $1133 an ounce. That's off by about $7 an ounce this morning.

Things were mixed in the Far East but they're worse across the board in Europe. The Hang Seng in China is down .29%, the NIKKEI in Japan is up .68%, and the Straits Time Index in Singapore is down .04%. In Europe, the FTSE in London is off .56%, the DAX in German is off 1.79%, and the Spanish Index is off .4%.

The Dollar is better against most currencies this morning. It's up .94% against the Euro, up by .35% against the British Pound, up by .55% against the Canadian Dollar though it's off by .32% against the Japanese Yen.