Stock futures are off this morning as the Federal Reserve prepares to begin its two-day monetary policy meeting and Goldman Sachs readies for a Senate Subcommittee investigative hearing.
Ahead of the opening bell, Dow futures are off 11 points to 11,140 and S&P 500 futures are trading 4.25 points lower at 1,204. The 2 year Treasury note is +0-01 at 99-30 yielding 1.029% and the 10 year Treasury note is +0-09 at 98-28 yielding 3.774%.
Commodities are also pointing downwards: WTI crude oil is off $1.02 to $83.18 per barrel, while Spot Gold is off $2.40 to $1,151.10.
Key Events Today:
9:00 ― A watershed moment is expected to be seen in the S&P Case-Shiller Home Price Index for February. Economists expect the index to see year-to-year home prices increase for the first time in 37 months, or since December 2006. However, the month-to-month numbers are set to fall 0.1%, and demand for housing is still expected to be only moderate in the medium term.
“The turn higher reflects strong growth last summer as well as more moderate declines in recent months vs. the week price performance seen in late 2008/early 2009,” said economists from Nomura. “On a month-over-month basis, we expect the non-seasonally adjusted index to decline by 0.5% (we believe the non- seasonally adjusted index is a better measure of house price trends due to structural changes in the housing market). Overall house prices – by this and other measures – look broadly stable.”
10:00 ― Using Goldman Sachs as a case study, a Senate Subcommittee hearing will focus on the role of investment banks in contributing to the U.S. economic crisis. The subcommittee, whose Chairman is Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., and whose Ranking Republican is Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., has conducted a nearly year and a half investigation into the 2008 financial crisis.
10:00 ― Ben Bernanke, chairman of the Federal Reserve, speaks before the White House’s Debt-Reduction Commission. Speech is entitled, “The Challenge of Achieving Fiscal Sustainability.”
10:00 ― The Conference Board’s measure of Consumer Confidence is expected to rise in April, but only by 1.3 points to 53.5. Positive factors include the recent upturn in the labor market, rising retail sales, and strong GDP growth. But job growth is still expected to be slow in the months ahead, dampening the chances of a multi-point increase.
“Consumer confidence is expected to pick-up slowly,” said economists at BBVA, predicting a score of 54.3. “Over the past eleven months, confidence has remained flat, hovering around an average of 52, and April’s results will fall in line with that trend.”
10:15 ―Jean-Claude Trichet, president of the European Central Bank, delivers the keynote address to the Chicago Council on Global Affairs. Topic is lessons learned from the financial crisis and their implications for the global economy.
Treasury Auctions:
- 11:30 ― 4-Week Bills
- 1:00 ― 2-Year Notes
