20Feb2017 Pre-Market Commentary: US Markets Closed Today In Observance Of The Presidents Day Holiday, US Dollar Slips, European Stocks Rise

Written by Gary

Today Feb. 20, all U.S. banks and financial markets will be closed in observance of the Presidents Day, giving investors a chance to consider skyrocketing stock gains so far this year. European stocks have risen today, with gains in telecoms and banks offsetting a big fall in Unilever. The dollar has dipped over politics and the timing of a U.S. interest rate rise kept investors nervous.

Here is the current market situation from CNN Money
	European markets are mixed. The DAX is higher by 0.55%, while the CAC 40 is leading the FTSE 100 lower. They are down 0.17% and 0.06% respectively.

What Is Moving the Markets

Here are the headlines moving the markets.
	Telcos, banks lift European shares, dollar dips LONDON (Reuters) – European stocks rose on Monday, with gains in telecoms and banks offsetting a big fall in Unilever, while the dollar dipped as uncertainty over politics and the timing of a U.S. interest rate rise kept investors nervous.
	Kraft backs out of Unilever bid after hostile reception LONDON (Reuters) – Kraft Heinz Co’s rapid retreat from its surprise $143 billion bid for Unilever in the face of stiff resistance knocked the Anglo-Dutch company’s shares on Monday as investors assessed the impact of the failed approach.
	UK union fears grow over future of GM’s Vauxhall plants: source LONDON (Reuters) – The head of Britain’s biggest trade union is likely to meet the CEO of PSA Group on Friday amid growing concerns over the future of Vauxhall plants if the French carmaker buys the business from General Motors, a union source told Reuters.
	UK government has no intention of revoking Article 50: PM May’s spokesman LONDON (Reuters) – The British government has no intention of revoking its withdrawal from the European Union once the formal exit process has been triggered, Prime Minister Theresa May’s spokesman said on Monday.
	Snap bets on hardware as Facebook threat looms SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Snap Inc takes to the road in London on Monday to promote its initial public offering with a daring proposition: that it can build hot-selling hardware gadgets and ad-friendly software features fast enough to stay one step ahead of Facebook.
	Hong Kong union joins critics of McDonald’s HK, China sale, sees pay squeeze HONG KONG (Reuters) – The Hong Kong Confederation of Trade Unions (HKCTU) warned that McDonald’s Corp’s up-to-$2.1 billion sale of its Hong Kong and China operations could hit workers’ pay, adding to growing criticism of the deal on the mainland and elsewhere.
	Pension deficit at GM’s British operations stands at up to 1 billion pounds: source LONDON (Reuters) – The pensions deficit at General Motors’ British division stands at up to 1 billion pounds ($1.25 billion), a source told Reuters on Monday, amid fears over the future of its Vauxhall plants as Peugeot explores a European buyout.
	Uber CEO orders ‘urgent investigation’ on sexual harassment claims (Reuters) – The chief executive of Uber Technologies Inc [UBER.UL] has ordered an “urgent investigation” into claims of sexual harassment at the ride-hailing service made by a former employee.
	SoftBank shares up; sources say company willing to cede control of Sprint TOKYO (Reuters) – Shares in SoftBank Group Corp rose nearly 3 percent in morning trade on Monday after a Reuters report that the Japanese company is prepared to cede control of Sprint Corp to T-Mobile US Inc to clinch a merger of the two U.S. wireless carriers.
	Political Turmoil Returns To Europe: French-German Spread Blows Out To Five Year Wides Despite a calm start to European trading, with local equity bourses posting solid early gains, European political fears have returned this morning, leading to a blow out in French government bond yields, pushing the 10y yield now higher by 5bps and 5y up 8bps, as early losses extend after latest poll shows support for anti-euro presidential candidate Marine Le Pen rising in both election rounds. As a result, the French-German 10Y govt spread has jumped to 85 bps, following an accelerated selloff, to the widest level since July 2012. As Bloomberg notes, after opening tighter vs core bonds, OATs have been pressured as talks between left-wing candidates Melenchon and Hamon are set to continue, while Bloomberg reports that Emmanuel Macron may have harmed his own campaign after becoming entangled in controversies over France’s colonial past. More to the point, the latest daily French election poll by OpinionWay shows first-round support for Marine Le Pen rising by 1 percentage point to 27%. Both Emmanuel Macron and Francois Fillon’s 1st-round support remains unchanged at 20%, while first round support for Jean-Luc Melenchon down 1 point to 12% as support for socialist candidate Benoit Hamon stable at 16%. While in the second round, Macron is still expected to defeat Le Pen with 58% of the vote vs 42% for Le Pen, this is a smaller margin from February 17, when the poll showed him at 60% vs Le Pen at 40%. Similarly …
	Gold The “Ultimate Insurance Policy” as “Grave Concerns About Euro” – Greenspan Gold The “Ultimate Insurance Policy” as “Grave Concerns About Euro” – Greenspan “The eurozone isn’t working …” warns Greenspan “I view gold as the primary global currency” said Greenspan “Significant increases in inflation will ultimately increase the price of gold” “Investment in gold now is insurance…” Source: Getty …
	Global Stocks Rise, S&P Futures Hit New Record High Despite US Market Closure Despite US markets being closed in observance of Washington’s birthday, S&P futures spiked during overnight trading, reaching new all time highs before fading some of the gains. Both Asian and European markets traded modestly higher after paring early gains. The U.S. dollar traded in a tight range ahead of a busy week for Federal Reserve events, while the pound rallied the most in more than two weeks ahead of a House of Lords Brexit debate, while South Africa’s rand fell on political turmoil. Oil advanced for a third day and spot gold rose for the fourth session in five. The relatively benign moves this morning follow what was also a fairly tepid end to the week on Friday in markets. Equity markets in the US did however manage to eke out another small gain with the S&P 500 finishing +0.17% following a late bounce into the close. That means it has closed up in 11 of the last 13 trading sessions although at the same time has now gone 49 consecutive sessions without closing with a move up or down by more than 1%. Global volumes have been light with U.S. markets closed for the Presidents Day holiday. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan edged up 0.1 percent and back toward a 19-month peak reached last week. Shanghai stocks added 0.9% and expectations of solid economic growth in China kept commodities such as copper and iron ore well bid. Japan’s Nikkei closed flat after domestic data showed exports disappointed in January even as imports outpaced forecasts. With U.S. bond and stock markets shut on Monday for Presidents’ Day, investors are watching developments in Europe. Political risk is in focus after a poll showed public approval for German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s ruling party fell behind the Social Democrats for the first time under her leadership. And in the U.K., some members of the parliament’s upper chamber will seek changes to the draft law that will allow the government to trig …
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	Chinese Bank Cleanup Plan Could Leave a Mess Attempts by China’s regulators to stem the use of shadow financing tools by the nation’s lenders haven’t been working.
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	Does Growing Mismeasurement Explain Disappointing Growth? from the San Francisco Fed — this post authored by David Byrne, John G. Fernald, and Marshall Reinsdorf Slowing growth in U.S. productivity after 2004 is sometimes blamed on measurement problems, particularly in assessing the gains from innovation in IT-related goods and services. However, mismeasurement also occurred before the slowdown and, on balance, there is no evidence that it has worsened. Some innovations – such as free Internet services – have grown increasingly important, but they mainly affect leisure time. Moreover, the non-market benefits do not appear large enough to offset the effects of the business-sector slowdown.
	The Wall Street Journal: Pence reaffirms U.S. commitment to European Union Pence pledged stepped-up cooperation on terrorism and economic issues with Europe.
	The Wall Street Journal: Investors heartened by Trump’s apparent support of a Bayer-Monsanto merger Bayer reports full-year results on Wednesday.
	Which markets will be closed on Presidents Day? On Monday, Feb. 20, all U.S. banks and financial markets will be closed in observance of the Presidents Day, perhaps giving investors a chance to consider impressive stock gains so far this year.