Friends
Market participants will be focusing on the Fed this week as their final FOMC meeting of the year begins tomorrow. We will get the committee’s statement and Fed Chair Powell’s press conference on Wednesday. Expectations are that the Fed will announce that they will speed up the tapering process which could lead to the raising of interest rates via the Fed Funds rate by Spring. After last week’s ramp higher in stock prices and given that the Fed is likely to confirm a more hawkish stance this week, it was not surprising that investors are tentative and that stocks sold off a bit today.
By the close the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 320 points to finish the day at 35,650. The S&P 500 was down 43 points to finish the day at 4,668. The Nasdaq Composite Index was down 217 points to close at 15,413. Gold was up $3 to trade at $1787 per ounce, while oil was down $.43 to trade at $71.24 per barrel WTI.
We are going to find out just how accurately stocks are priced given the expectation that the Fed has firmly moved towards a hawkish stance to combat inflation. There is some maneuvering and tax planning by investors at year end which adds to the mix as we make our way towards the end of the year. It should be a busy week for traders. Stay tuned.
Have a nice evening everyone.
