Equity markets are rallying ahead of key housing market data for December.
90 minutes before the opening bell, Dow futures are up 24 points to 10,161 and S&P 500 futures are trading 2.80 points up to 1,089.10.
Commodities are also higher with WTI Crude oil up 71 cents to $75.14 per barrel and Spot Gold, reversing earlier declines, is up $8.25 to $1,113.75.
Meanwhile, the dollar is flat along with the euro, while Australia’s currency is under water after its central bank left rates at 3.75%, surprising those looking for a 25 basis points hike.
Key Events Today:
10:00 ― Pending Home Sales are currently 15.5% above previous years levels even after the index dropped 16% in November. The decline was a result of the surge in previous months owed to the government tax credit for first-time home buyers, which was then extended to April 30, 2010. For December the consensus is that a positive trend will resume, albeit slowly at 1%.
“The original November 30th expiry of the first-time home buyers tax credit had a huge dampening impact on housing activity (check out the recent data on new and existing home sales along with the homebuilders’ and mortgage bankers’ indices),” said economists at BMO Capital Markets.
“The announced extension and expansion of the credit was apparently no match for the powerful pull-forward effect. This was probably the case for pending home sales as well; we expect them to drop 1.6% in December (note that the consensus call is for a slight increase).”
Ian Shepherdson from HFE said the index is a wild card. "We are hopeful the December index will be modestly stronger, but anything could happen," he said. "Either way, we look for sales to strengthen through the first half of the year."
10:00 ―Tim Geithner, Treasury Secretary, testifies before the Senate Banking Committee on the 2011 budget. He is joined by former Fed chairman and Obama advisor Paul Volcker, who will be addressing regulations to high-risk bank activities.
Treasury Auctions:
- 11:30 ― 4-Week Bills
