The European Central Bank left its benchmark interest rate unchanged at 0.75%, but U.S. futures appear to be rallying on the basis of Presidential candidate Mitt Romney's "victory" in last night's debate against incumbent Barack Obama. Without his teleprompters President Obama lacked the oratorical "smooth talk" that is his trademark and appeared tired, enabling Romney to simply overshadow the President with a calm, factual approach. How much of a "bump" this creates for Romney in the polls remains uncertain, but ultimately the "poll" that will be taken on November 6th is the one that matters most.
The market remains in a short-term correction, not much more than 1% off of its recent price peaks on the major market indexes. Leading stocks continue to build secondary consolidations following strong moves in September, and currently most of the action among leading stocks remains non-descript. Without any major catalyst on the horizon, the market may remain somewhat rangebound going into tomorrow's Bureau of Labor Statistics monthly jobs report.
Precious metals are flirting with resistance levels at around 1790 for gold and 35 for silver, based on the nearest futures contracts, and this corresponds to resistance at just above 173 for the SPDR Gold Shares (GLD) and 34 for the iShares Silver Trust (SLV). A strong move through these levels could very well signal another upleg in the precious metals move that began in mid-August.
Apple (AAPL) followed through on yesterday's high-volume bounce off of its 50-day moving average as it sets up for a third day up in a row this morning.