Stocks Soar In Fed’s Afermath

Sep 19, 2024 | Market Commentary

Friends,

 

It’s appears, at least for a day, that market participants decided not to fight the Fed. Stocks soared higher right from the opening bell and never really looked back. Not everything was a winner but the move higher in the winners greatly outpaced the losers.

 

By the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 522 points to finish the day at 42,025. The S&P 500 was up 95 points to close at 5,714. The Nasdaq Composite Index was up 440 points to close at 18,014. Gold was up $13.50 to trade at $2,612 per ounce, while oil was up $1.02 to trade at $71.93 per barrel WTI.

 

Now with the Fed’s easing cycle having begun, and that tailwind at their backs, market participants will be faced with the headwinds of valuation. We are not starting this accommodative cycle at bargain prices. Stocks aren’t cheap but will the Fed’s tailwind provide enough momentum to make valuation a moot point? We will see. Let’s see how the week finishes out tomorrow first.

 

Have a nice evening everyone.

Recent Posts

Tech Stocks Continue to Drag Market Lower

Tech Stocks Continue to Drag Market Lower

Friends The weakness in tech/AI stocks continues and the market averages, especially the Nasdaq, continue to lose ground as we get closer to year end. Instead of taking a victory lap the stocks that have been the leaders all year long are now cowering nervously in the...

Stocks Mostly Lower after Employment Data Release

Stocks Mostly Lower after Employment Data Release

Friends This morning’s release of the November non-farm payroll number showed that 64,000 new jobs were added, which was better than analysts had expected. The unemployment rate did tick up to 4.6%, which was actually more than expected. It’s hard to determine if this...

Stocks Soft As Economic Data Looms

Stocks Soft As Economic Data Looms

Friends Today was pretty much the same script we have seen over the past couple of weeks. The AI/big tech names came under selling pressure enough to take the market averages into negative territory. It’s hard to read too much into recent market action as we are so...