Markets are mixed this Monday morning as tech stocks get a boost while most other sectors trade in the red so far. Financials are also bucking the weakness a bit after Bank of America was upgraded to Buy at Goldman Sachs and is helping buoy the group.
There wasn't any big M&A news of the weekend and not much market moving news this morning. The geopolitical headlines pretty much remain the same with concerns about ISIS in Iraq and questions as to Putin's motives in Ukraine.
Asian markets were mixed overnight. China's trade surplus expanded with imports falling -2.4% while exports grew 9.4%. European markets trade lower today and Eurozone investor sentiment has fallen to -9.8 from 2.7. Pretty big drop.
Bond yields continue to vacillate in low territory. Friday it looked like the 10-year yield may test 2.50%, but today it is back in the 2.43% area. Gold prices also continue to trend lower with the yellow metal trading down to $1258.
Trading comment: The S&P 500 hit the 2000 mark back on 8/25, and despite reaching overbought territory the index has refused to give up any ground. The sideways consolidation around this key psychological level should be construed as bullish. With the geopolitical backdrop concerns, you have to conclude that this bull market continues to climb the proverbial 'wall of worry' and until proven otherwise we continue to give the market the benefit of the doubt and look for opportunities in stocks.