Investing.com - Here are the top five things you need to know in financial markets on Wednesday, February 15:
1. Yellen back to bat along with other Fed speakers
Federal Reserve (Fed) chair Janet Yellen will be back in front of Congress on Wednesday to testify on the U.S. economy at 10:00AM ET (15:00GMT).
Yellen will repeat her testimony this time to the House Financial Services Committee after reaffirming her view Tuesday that a continuation of current labor market conditions and inflation moving towards the 2% target would support the case for the Fed to hike rates at “upcoming meetings” and once again insisted that “waiting too long to remove accommodation would be unwise”.
Apart from Yellen, markets will receive a wider view of outlooks from U.S. central bank officials with appearances from Philadelphia Fed president Patrick Harker, Boston Fed chief Eric Rosengren and New York Fed president William Dudley throughout the day.
2. Focus on inflation and retail sales ahead of Yellen
On the data front and particularly relevant considering Yellen’s appearance Wednesday, the Commerce Department will publish January inflation figures at 8:30AM ET (13:30GMT). Market analysts expect consumer prices to ease up 0.3%, while core inflation is forecast to increase 0.2%.
On a yearly base, core CPI is projected to climb 2.1%. Core prices are viewed by the Federal Reserve as a better gauge of longer-term inflationary pressure because they exclude the volatile food and energy categories. The central bank usually tries to aim for 2% core inflation or less.
At the same time Wednesday, the Commerce Department will publish data on January retail sales. The consensus forecast is that the report will show retail sales rose 0.1% last month, after gaining 0.6% in December. Core sales are forecast to inch up 0.4%, after rising 0.2% a month earlier.
3. Oil edges lower as investors await U.S. supply data
Oil prices were lower Wednesday, after data overnight showed a massive build-up in U.S. crude supplies.
After markets closed Tuesday, the American Petroleum Institute said that U.S. oil inventories rose by a whopping 9.9 million barrels in the week ended February 10.
The API report also showed a gain of 720,000 barrels in gasoline stocks, while distillate stocks rose 1.5 million barrels, highlighting continued builds in refined products seen as an overhang on the market.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration will release its official weekly oil supplies report at 10:30AM ET (15:30GMT) Wednesday, amid analyst expectations for a rise of 3.5 million barrels.
Futures have been trading in a narrow range around the lower-to-mid-$50s over the past month as sentiment in oil markets has been torn between hopes that oversupply may be curbed by output cuts announced by major global producers and expectations of a rebound in U.S. shale production.
U.S. crude oil futures fell 0.56% to $52.90 at 5:54AM ET (10:54GMT), while Brent oil traded down 0.38% to $55.76.
4. Eyes on hedge fund investment with Icahn, Buffet and Soros in the limelight
Investors would likely focus on investments from top hedge funds and stock gurus as regulatory filings hit the wires late Tuesday.
Several big-name U.S. hedge fund investors in the fourth quarter moved significant parts of their portfolios into financial and pharmaceutical stocks that are expected to benefit under the Trump administration.
At the same time, top U.S. hedge funds trimmed bets on a group of closely-watched technology stocks in the fourth quarter, known as “FANG stocks”, in reference to Facebook (NASDAQ:FB), Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN), Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) and Google parent Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL).
Billionaire activist investor Carl Icahn increased his holdings in Herbalife Ltd (NYSE:HLF) and Hertz Global Holdings Inc (NYSE:HTZ) in the fourth quarter, and exited Voltari Corp (OTC:VLTC).
New York-based Icahn also reduced investments in PayPal Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:PYPL) Nuance Communications Inc (NASDAQ:NUAN) and Freeport-McMoran Copper & Gold Inc (NYSE:FCX).
Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc (NYSE:BRKa) was an aggressive buyer of stocks in last year's fourth quarter, nearly quadrupling its stake in Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) and increasing its stake sevenfold in the four biggest U.S. airlines.
Soros Fund Management, the firm that invests the personal fortune of billionaire investor and philanthropist George Soros, disclosed a $14.9 million position in Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) and made a new bet on Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) worth $3.9 million.
5. Global stocks follow Wall Street’s lead and move higher
Asian shares gained on Wednesday led by Tokyo with investors taking a cue from Wall Street, as the Dow and S&P chalked up their 23rd and 15th record closing high since the U.S. elections.
European stocks also moved higher on Wednesday, led by gains in the financial sector after comments by Fed chair Janet Yellen on Tuesday and as investors focused on a fresh batch of corporate earnings.
Meanwhile, U.S. futures pointed to a pause after hitting new record highs a day earlier. At 5:56AM ET (10:56GMT), the Dow Jones Industrial Average futures inched up 0.05, S&P 500 futures slipped 0.04%, while the Nasdaq 100 futures edged forward 0.01%.