Top 5 Things to Know About Today’s Financial Market: Debt Ceiling Issue and Cautious Market Optimism

Investing.com – Here are the top 5 things you need to know about the financial markets on Wednesday, May 17:

1.At oncedebtupper limitHow likely is it to reach an agreement?

US President Joe Biden (Joe Biden) and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (Kevin McCarthy) sent a cautiously optimistic signal on raising the debt ceiling after their meeting yesterday (16th).

Biden said lawmakers are moving toward a consensus to raise the $31 trillion federal debt ceiling. The White House also said later that Biden would cut short this week’s trip to participate in future negotiations in person.

McCarthy pointed out that “it is possible to reach a deal by the end of this week.”

The U.S. is widely expected to run out of money early next month. Some warn that a debt default would be disastrous for the United States and have knock-on effects for the global economy.

2.U.S. stock futures edge up amid cautious optimism

U.S. stock futures edged higher as investors expressed cautious optimism that a resolution to the debt ceiling issue will eventually be resolved.

According to the U.S. stock quotes on Investing.com, as of 18:40 Beijing time (6:40 a.m. Eastern Time), blue-chip stocks rose 82.4 points, or 0.25%, and rose 9.2 points, or about 0.22%. Technology stocks mainly rose 8.6 points, or 0.06%.

On the other hand, yields on U.S. Treasuries due next month – those that mature when a possible U.S. default occurs – have retreated from their pre-2008 financial crisis highs amid concerns over the debt ceiling and stronger yesterday. .

3.U.S. retail giant Target will announce its financial report, focusing on the sales performance of food and daily necessities

US retail giant Target (NYSE: ) will announce its earnings report later, investors need to pay close attention to consumer spending, especially food and daily necessities (Groceries)

Food and daily necessities account for one-fifth of Target’s total sales, but consumers are even cutting back on necessities such as food due to high prices.

Earlier, the American home improvement retail giant Home Depot ( Home Depot ) (NYSE: ) reported weaker-than-expected results and lowered guidance.

also, walmart(NYSE: ) will release earnings on Thursday (18th).

4.beautifulcountryA number of property market data will be released

On the economic data front, the U.S. will release a number of housing market data later in the day, including April and April.

The move follows a sharp rise in starts of single-family homes, the workhorse of new home construction, in March, which soared to a five-month high during the same period.

Economists believe that a recent cooling in mortgage rates may have provided an impetus to homebuying demand. U.S. mortgage rates (mortgage rates) have fallen from their peaks in October and November last year as people expect the Federal Reserve to pause interest rate hikes as soon as next.

However, the property market still seems to be some distance away from a full recovery. A decline in multifamily housing starts in March dragged down overall March starts, which fell 0.8% to a rate of 1.42 million units, while total construction capacity also fell.

5.Oil remains flat as U.S. inventories rise unexpectedly

Oil prices fluctuated slightly after an unexpected increase, fueling concerns about demand from the world’s largest consumer. U.S. crude inventories rose by about 3.6 million barrels in the week to May 12, compared with expectations for a drawdown.

However, the increase in inventories was affected by releases from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, and the decline in inventories pointed to an improvement in demand ahead of summer.

During the day, investors also need to pay attention to official inventory data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA).

As of 18:40 Beijing time (06:40 am Eastern Time), Investing.com Commodity Markets showed: up 0.55% to $71.25/barrel; up 0.56% to $75.33/barrel.

[This article is from Yingwei Caiqing Investing.com, to read more, please log in to cn.investing.com or download Yingwei Caiqing App]

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Compiler: Liu Chuan