Good morning. US equities finished yesterday’s Fed Day higher, closing near the day’s best levels following Powell’s press conference as commentary didn’t evolve into anything more Hawkish than expected. Small caps outperformed though riskier areas like thematic baskets were under pressure. The S&P 500 ticked above 6900 at its high. Treasury yields bull-steepened with the short-end down ~7bp while the long end fell ~3bp. You can read more about it in our Fed Recap. This morning futures are pulling back but are off the overnight lows. Most of the pressure is centered on Tech names as Oracle falls >10% following earnings last night, despite some rather robust numbers overall that included an increase in FY27 sales guidance. The concerns around spending remain firmly in place though and that is weighing on shares, with a big negative cash flow print and increased opex guidance. We got some mixed signals from the jobless claims data this morning. Weely initial claims jumped from 192k to 236k, well above expectations. However continuing claims showed a sharp decline. The prior week included Thanksgiving and that could be exerting some impact on the numbers. Averaging the two initial claims reports gives you 214k, a little above the 4-week average of 216.75k. Markets didn’t react too much to the data, with futures and yields ticking slightly lower. Yields are down 2-3bp across the curve and the US Dollar Index is lower as well. Commodities are mixed. Crude is trading lower with no follow-through after the US intercepted a Venezuelan tanker yesterday. Nat gas continues its weakness. Metals are higher with silver continuing its climb. Crypto is under some pressure with Bitcoin testing its 20d ma ~$90.5k.

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