Friends
Stocks were able to break a four day losing streak (well the S&P 500 and NASDAQ did anyway), but the bulls aren’t getting out the party hats just yet. For most of the session, the bond market remained calm which seemed to allow stocks to drift in positive territory. Despite some scary negative action in emerging markets overnight, buyers seemed somewhat interested in checking out some of the “bargains” that had developed over the past couple of weeks.
By the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 7 points to finish the day at 15,002. The S&P 500 was up 6 points to close at 1652. Gold was up $5 to trade at $1371 per ounce, while oil was down $1.82 to trade at $105.04 per barrel WTI. The S&P finds itself between a 1642 support level and a 1676 resistance level.
Market participants will be watching for the release of the FOMC minutes tomorrow afternoon, hoping to gain any potential clues as to the Fed’s intentions to begin the tapering process. We’ll get a look at the weekly jobless claims on Thursday. If the Fed is indeed data dependent, as Chairman Bernanke has indicated, does the recent string of economic reports support the notion of the tapering beginning in September? It seems evident that the Fed wants to begin to lessen the amount of punch they have been adding monthly to the punch bowl. Will the economic backdrop give them cover to do so? We’ll be watching.
Have a nice evening everyone.
