Friends
Maybe the best way to describe today’s trading was sloppy. After an initial drop, stocks rallied to squeak into positive territory by midsession. But as the afternoon wore on, share prices once again slipped into negative territory and lost ground into the close. It’s not a real surprise, given recent market strength, that we would hit the pause button, and it will be interesting to see if the bulls can defend 1950 (the previous resistance level, which quickly became support).
By the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 109 points to finish the day at 16,964. The S&P 500 was down 22 points to close at 1979. Gold was down $2 to trade at $1,263 per ounce, while oil was down $1.58 to trade at $36.32 per barrel WTI.
Weakness overnight in China and other Asian markets can be partly attributed to today’s softness, but the bulls just might be striking a cautious tone with next week’s FOMC meeting looming. Weakness in oil could also be another contributing factor as it seems to be no coincidence that stocks rallied recently when oil went on its winning streak. Let’s see if the bulls can defend their turf as the week continues.
Have a nice evening everyone.
