Friends
On the last day of the quarter the markets took mercy on the beleaguered bulls. Fueled by rallies in overseas markets, stocks were poised to open to the upside and did so. Fortunately for the bulls, the gains were sustained throughout the trading session and the recent pain was suspended, at least for a day.
By the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 235 points to finish the day at 16,284. The S&P 500 was up 35 points to close at 1920. Gold was down $11 to trade at $1115 per ounce, while oil was up a modest $.12 to trade at $45.35 per barrel WTI. Despite today’s rally, for the quarter, the S&P 500 was down almost 7%, while the Dow was down more than 7.5%. For those keeping score, oil was down more than 20% for the quarter also.
On the economic front, the ADP private payroll number came in a little better than expected, but the Chicago PMI business barometer was much worse than expected and actually indicated a business contraction in the region. Once again, the data is mixed, which really gives the Fed the room to lean whichever way they want to. Well, this quarter is finally over. Hopefully we can embark on a more enjoyable journey for the rest of the year.
Have a nice evening everyone.
