Monday's Market Minute: Busy Holiday Weeks

We’re seeing some risk-off sentiment to begin the week, with concerns related to strict travel and trade restrictions tied to fears of a fast-spreading new strain of the coronavirus in the U.K. Global indices are lower ahead of the U.S. cash open. The news seems to be casting a bit of a black cloud over news of stimulus progress over the weekend, with Congress set to vote on a $900 billion stimulus package which is widely expected to pass after months of negotiations.

Investors and traders are also keeping an eye on some closely-watched economic data this week such as GDP, Existing Home Sales, and Consumer Confidence. In fact, it’s a big week for housing: we have the FHFA House Price Index and New Home Sales both out Wednesday, in addition to Personal Income and Spending.

Weekly Jobless Claims and Durable Goods will be watched later in the week, especially after the disappointing jobs report last week.

We also have the U.S. dollar coming off last week’s lows, levels we haven’t seen since the spring of 2018, and copper last week traded to levels we haven’t seen since the beginning of 2013. So it’s not just indices here in the U.S. at or near all-time highs on the minds of traders and investors headed into the holiday-shortened week – come to think of it, I can see why markets appear to be a bit on edge.

Photo by René DeAnda on Unsplash