Friends
Volatility picked up a little today as stocks rallied at the open to the tune of about 100 Dow points, then gave back almost all of those gains, only to rally once again in the afternoon. The economic data released throughout the morning was a bit mixed and confusing with Case-Shiller showing home prices still rising (though not at the same pace), New Home Sales for February were up but not as strong as January, and Consumer Confidence was higher than expected. The Richmond Fed Manufacturing Index was somewhat lousy, however.
As it was, by the close the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 91 points to finish the day at 16,367. The S&P 500 was up 8 points to close at 1865. Gold was up $1 to trade at $1312 per ounce, while oil was down $.35 to trade at $99.25 per barrel WTI.
The bulls and the bears seem to be fighting over a small piece of territory, both seemingly unable to gain an upper hand. Let’s see how the rest of the week unfolds as we get closer to the end of the first quarter of the year.
Have a nice evening everyone.
