Friends
It was another roller coaster day for stocks on this last trading day of the month and quarter. Stocks spent time in both positive and negative territory throughout the day, as traders couldn’t make up their mind if they wanted to end the quarter with a buy ticket in hand or a sell ticket.
By the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 28 points to finish the day at 17,042. The S&P 500 was down 5 points to close at 1972. Gold was down $9 to trade at $1209 per ounce, while oil was down $3.16 to trade at $91.41 per barrel WTI.
On the economic front, the Case-Shiller Housing Price Index showed home prices contracting quite a bit in July continuing the recent trend and more than analysts expected. After trending higher, Consumer Confidence reversed course and was also much worse than expected. The most recent data points have not been as encouraging as we had been seeing this year. Perhaps global concerns along with global economic weakness is starting to weigh on confidence and domestic economic output.
The third quarter is behind us now, one that didn’t really see the bulls or the bears come out on top, but we still have a lot in front of this week so market participants will remain focused. Let’s see how the rest of the week unfolds.
Have a nice evening everyone.
