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After a sharp sell-off in the final hour of trading yesterday, US futures were tentatively higher this morning but have just dipped into negative territory.  There haven’t been a lot of major headlines so far, but Fed Chair Powell’s 9 AM speech where he is expected to push back on negative interest rates will lately make headlines.  PPI was just released and came in much weaker than expected with headline falling 1.3% m/m (expectations -0.5%) and the core reading dropping 0.3% (expectations unchanged).

Be sure to check out today’s Morning Lineup for a rundown of the latest stock-specific news of note, UK GDP, the latest global and national trends related to the COVID-19 outbreak, and much more.

Equities were already weak heading into the last hour of trading yesterday but got much weaker in the final sixty minutes of trading. With a decline of 1.51% in the final hour, it was the S&P 500’s worst last hour performance since March 27th, just a few days after the March low.

So, what is the short-term takeaway of a sharp sell-off to end the day?  Is it positive or ominous?  Based on recent history, it’s neither.  Of the eight prior 1% declines in the last hour of trading, the S&P 500 has traded higher the following day four times and lower the other four. At least today will break the tie!   With average and median gains that are both over 1%, though, the magnitude of the positive days did outweigh the negatives.