Friends
Despite a robust retail sales number stocks still moved lower at the open this morning. The Russians didn’t move on Ukraine, but market participants aren’t convinced that Mr. Putin is just going to take his ball and go home. Stocks were lingering in negative territory by midday, then we got the Fed minutes from the most recent FOMC meeting at 1:00. Basically, the minutes confirmed the hawkish tone that emanated from the last statement. But recent comments from Fed officials have been even more hawkish, so by comparison the notes didn’t send any additional fear into the markets. Thus, stocks did recover some.
By the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 54 points to finish the day at 34,934. The S&P 500 was up 3 points to close at 4,475. The Nasdaq Composite Index was down 15 points to close at 14,124. Gold was up $17 to trade at $ 1,873 per ounce, while oil was down $1.22 to trade at $90.85 per barrel WTI.
As we have made it halfway through the first quarter of 2022, our base case that several headwinds are going to make this a more challenging year for financial assets has not changed. The Fed remains front and center as they embark on their journey to thwart inflation. In the meantime, let’s see how this week finishes out.
Have a nice evening everyone.
