The prior month came in at -2 – Richmond Fed manufacturing index comes in better than expected at +2 versus -15 estimate – prior month was at -2 – services revenue index +1 versus +26 in February Although the current conditions were more favorable than expectations, the future expectations showed more weakness:

Oil can't catch a break The nexus of the pain right now is at refineries. Phillips 66 said today that they are nearing minimum crude rates in many of their refineries.

Comments from the Senate majority leader McConnell says negotiations are "on the five-yard line". Meanwhile, Spain has approved a plan of burden-sharing for banks that includes credit lines of up to 20B euros. The government will guarantee around 80% of unpaid loans as part of state-backed credit lines to SMES and the self-employe

Stocks not halted S&P 500 rises 7.05%. The market hasn't been halted yet, the formula is a bit more complicated than the simple headline. ForexLive

With the beginning of this week’s trading, the recent US dollar record gains have stopped.

The US dollar remains the strongest against most other major currencies, as investors buy the American currency amid large efforts by the US central bank to stimulate the American economy and American markets.

For the second day in a row, gold prices are trying to correct higher, taking advantage of the US dollar's gains, with the yellow metal's gains reaching the $1575 level at the time of writing.

Fear of missing out appears Many equities are pricing in a depression and a high risk of insolvency. These are dark times but you hate to bet against humanity, central banks and fiscal firepower. Everyone wants to buy-the-dip, eventually.

What's the market looking at today Services PMI data out of Asia, Eurozone and the UK has been nothing short of ugly, though this hasn't done much at all in stopping the major currencies from extending their respective recoveries against the Buck. The primary driver of the Dollar selling has been the latest Fed action, […]

The trade is around Congress today S&P 500 futures hit the 5% limit again. An interesting twist on the market open is that House leader Nancy Pelosi will be on CNBC right at the market open.