Back to top

Image: Bigstock

Markets Exhale, Pre-Market Buoys Upward

Read MoreHide Full Article

Tuesday, February 7, 2017

Ahead of the bell this Tuesday, it feels like a downshift of economic, earnings and political data. Perhaps we’ve gotten used to a high level of newsworthy information, whether it be of the new presidential administration, Q4 earnings or other economic data variety. We are relatively quiet on all these fronts ahead of the bell, and it feels like a bit of an exhale this morning.

The Dow closed above the coveted 20K level yesterday and looks to push higher at today’s bell — the blue-chip index is up an additional 58 points a half-hour before the open. Perhaps some of this has to do with a healthy Q4 earnings report from General Motors (GM - Free Report) this morning — $1.28 per share on $43.9 billion in the quarter easily beat the $1.14 per share and $42.2 billion in sales expected — but mostly it seems like a buoy based on nothing more than an ease of new data to digest.

Some bearish sentiment has managed to seep into the forecast for the Trump administration’s ability to navigate global economic waters, but no big headlines are grabbing early traders’ attention. Goldman Sachs (GS - Free Report) warned this morning of the jeopardy that would befall a U.S. trade war with China, which its analyst said neither side would win, but this sentiment hasn’t forced the markets down. Deregulation and corporate tax cuts still loom with promises of a big windfall for market participants in the overall outlook, which is keeping positive sentiment clear and present.

There is plenty of policy-based discussion regarding Trump’s immigrant ban, the passage of his Education Department nominee, etc., but these aren’t having any affect on markets this morning. Notices like these usually require a particular outcome to sway the markets up or down, depending. We’re not there yet.

Mark Vickery
Senior Editor

Click here to follow this author>>


See More Zacks Research for These Tickers


Normally $25 each - click below to receive one report FREE:


The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (GS) - free report >>

General Motors Company (GM) - free report >>