Friends
Stocks seemed to take the lead from oil this afternoon as both lost some ground as the trading session wore on, but the losses were modest. The meeting of oil producers this weekend in Doha, Qatar had oil traders in a frenzy and many decided that taking a few chips off the table before the likely disappointment was a sound decision. Of course you never know- production cuts could come from this meeting, but oil traders seemed to doubt it.
As for stocks, by the close the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 29 points to finish the day at 17,897. The S&P 500 was down 2 points to close at 2080. Gold was up $8 to trade at $1,234 per ounce, while the aforementioned oil was down $1.17 to trade at $40.31 per barrel, WTI.
On the economic front, the Industrial Production number was a mess this morning adding to a string of disappointing economic data that we have seen recently (Consumer Sentiment was down a touch in March also). All in all, a good week for the bulls, but earnings season moves into full gear next week as more than 20% of the S&P 500 companies report. We’ll let you know how it all shapes up.
Have a great weekend everyone.
