The major stock indexes and crude oil continue to show strength, says Bill Baruch, President of  BlueLineFutures.com.

E-mini S&P (ESM)

Yesterday’s close: Settled at 2898.25, up 2.25

Fundamentals: Major U.S benchmarks are holding ground near the highest levels since October. Yesterday, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 eked out gains, but Boeing (BA) lost 4.44% and dragged on the Dow which failed to retest Friday’s new swing high. The beleaguered company is in the headlines again this morning but now on a different front. President Trump is threatening to impose $11 billion in tariffs on imports from the EU in order to make up for subsides provided to Boeing’s competitor Airbus. This is a fresh direction in the ongoing trade war and one that has encouraged the EU and China to find common ground. The two nations meeting in Brussels today agreed on a joint statement in order to show unity against the United States.

Today’s economic calendar is light as we await tomorrow’s deluge. JOLTs Job Openings is due at 9:00 am CDT, there is a three-year Treasury note auction at noon CDT and Fed Governor Clarida speaks this evening at 5:45 pm CT. Tomorrow, the ECB holds a policy meeting, a big read on U.S inflation data is due and the FOMC is set to release the Minutes from their March meeting.

Technicals: Price action has stayed elevated and remains overall strong.

Crude Oil (CLK)

Yesterday’s close: Settled at $64.40, up $1.32

Fundamentals: Crude oil gained more than 2% yesterday to hit the highest level since Nov. 1 Escalating violence in Libya has fueled a technical breakout raising concerns of a supply disruption as Saudi Arabia and other OPEC countries have ramped up supply cuts to help balance the market. Also keeping a bid under prices is the state-owned Saudi Aramco bond sale. Orders have reportedly topped $85 billion. The world’s largest oil producer is expected to sell at least $10 billion and set pricing later today. This is certainly just another component deterring bears from fighting such a strong breakout. Domestic inventory expectations are hitting the tape and traders want to keep an eye on this as crude oil is expected build for the second week in a row. API is due at 3:30 pm CDT. Lastly, it seems that OPEC jawboning is starting to make its way back in the mix. Yesterday, the Saudi Energy Minister said it was too early to decide whether to extend supply cuts, however, Russia reportedly said they want to raise production after the June pact passes.
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Gold (GCM)

Yesterday’s close: Settled at $1301.9, up 6.3

Fundamentals: Gold is holding ground well and consolidating above the psychological $1300 mark at the onset of U.S hours. We remain very upbeat Gold heading into tomorrow but, technical headwinds do persist overhead; discussed in the ‘Technical’ section below. Yesterday, Factory Orders confirmed dismal expectations and Capital Goods Shipped Non-Defense missed. This overall kept pressure on the Dollar on the heels of Friday’s miss on wage growth. This morning, NFIB Small Business Optimism rose and we look to JOLTs Job Openings tomorrow. These are important data points but tomorrow does supersede and for that reason, as we said yesterday, we expect Gold to stay bid into tomorrow’s gauntlet; ECB policy meeting, U.S CPI and FOMC Minutes.

Bill Baruch provides technical levels on all markets throughout the week at BlueLineFutures.com