Investing.com - Here are the top five things you need to know in financial markets on Thursday, February 23:
1. U.S. Treasury Secretary Mnuchin in focus
U.S. Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin is scheduled to appear on CNBC's "Squawk Box" at 7:00AM ET (12:00GMT) and taxes are the topic traders want to hear about most.
Market players are hoping he will reveal what the Trump administration's highly-anticipated tax reform plan will look like and when they might see it. They are also looking for details on a wide range of topics, including currency valuations, trade policies and banking regulation.
Mnuchin on Wednesday praised the strong dollar as a reflection of confidence in the U.S. economy, telling The Wall Street Journal in an interview that it was "a good thing" in the long run.
2. Trump meets with manufacturers
President Donald Trump, who has vowed to stop U.S. manufacturing from disappearing overseas, will seek job-creation advice on Thursday from at least five companies that are laying off thousands of workers as they shift production abroad.
Executives from Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT), United Technologies (NYSE:UTX), 3M (NYSE:MMM), General Electric (NYSE:GE) and Dana (NYSE:DAN) are among a group of business leaders due to meet with the president on Thursday to discuss how to help the president deliver on his promise to increase factory employment, according to the White House.
Markets are also in a wait-and-see mode in anticipation of Trump’s address of a joint session of Congress on Tuesday next week, at which he is expected to announce tax policies.
3. Dollar little changed after Fed minutes
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was steady at 101.36 in New York morning trade, retreating from the prior session's high of 101.71.
Treasury yields were little changed, with the U.S. 10-Year yield around 2.411%.
Minutes from the Federal Reserve's latest meeting showed policymakers thought it may be appropriate to raise interest rates again "fairly soon" should jobs and inflation data come in line with expectations.
However, the U.S. central bank gave no firm signal on the timing of its next rate move, with policymakers noting uncertainty over economic policy under the Donald Trump administration.
Fed fund futures priced in about a 20% chance of a rate hike in March, according to Investing.com’s Fed Rate Monitor Tool, little changed from before the release of the Fed minutes. Odds of a May increase was seen at around 51%, while June odds were at 72%.
4. Investors hit pause button on global stock market rally
U.S. stock market futures pointed to a muted open near all-time highs on Thursday morning, as traders eyed earnings reports from retail heavyweights Kohl’s (NYSE:KSS), Gap (NYSE:GPS) and Nordstrom (NYSE:JWN).
In Europe, stocks hunted for direction in mid-morning trade, as investors eyed a further raft of corporate earnings reports.
Earlier, in Asia, markets ended the day mixed, with the Shanghai Composite in China closing down around 0.3%, while Japan's Nikkei dipped about 0.1%.
5. Oil prices regain momentum ahead of U.S. supply data
Oil prices bounced back from the prior session's losses on Thursday, as investors looked ahead to weekly data from the U.S. on stockpiles of crude and refined products.
U.S. crude was up 75 cents, or around 1.4%, to $54.34, while Brent rose 78 cents to $56.62 a barrel.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration will release its official weekly oil supplies report at 11:00AM ET (16:00GMT) Thursday, one day later than usual due to Monday's President's Day holiday.
After markets closed Wednesday, the American Petroleum Institute said that U.S. oil inventories surprisingly fell by 884,000 barrels in the week ended February 17, breaking a trend of six-straight builds.