The major indices are holding on to most of their gains. NASDAQ is outperforming, up .79% to 5298.  On the NYSE, advancers led decliners 1744/1125 and on the Nasdaq 1689/1000. Consumer Discretionary, Consumer Staples, Financials and Technology are strong today, while Energy and Telecom are weak.

The dollar index is up slightly to $98.72 and near a 9-month high. The strength in the greenback is hitting Gold again, which is trading at $1263/oz while copper and silver are both up. Oil prices are falling today on news that Iraq wants to be exempt from any production cut deals. However, Iranian and Russian official are out with comments that support limiting production.

The earnings parade continues from the likes of Kimberly-Clark, Restaurant Brands, T-Mobile, and VF Corp.  After the bell, Visa and Zions Bancorp will report.  This will be a very full earnings week with 13 Dow components and 160 S&P firms reporting.  Oil is down approximately 2% with WTI trading at $49.78 and Brent at $50.70.

On the economic data front, the PMI Manufacturing Index rose from 51.5 to 53.2 in October, beating the estimate of 51.5, and the biggest increase since in a year. This was led mostly by new business growth and strong output with an overall increase in production.  Manufacturing increased for the fifth straight month, while new orders and backlog orders also hit 1-year highs. "Both output and new orders are rising at the fastest rates for a year amid increasingly widespread optimism that demand will pick up again after the presidential election, which has been commonly cited as a key factor that has subdued spending and investment in recent months," said Chris Williamson, chief business economist at IHS Markit.

PMI Manufacturing Index