Friends
It was a pretty ugly day for stocks as market participants brace themselves for the Fed release tomorrow afternoon. Stocks did finish off the lows of the day, but there wasn’t enough energy to make any real push higher. Of course, we are all waiting for the Fed’s decision on interest rates tomorrow. Remember, we are expecting a 75-basis point rise in the Fed Funds rate which would push the rate up to 3.00% to 3.25%. The Fed could go for shock and awe and move the rate higher a full point, but maybe even more important will be the guidance on future hikes. We were guessing that the Fed would get to 3.5% on the Fed Funds rate by year end. That looks almost certain at this point and it’s likely that it might be closer to 4%. Anyway, we’ll see how the market responds to the Fed’s release and the Chairman’s press conference.
As for today, by the close the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 312 points to finish the day at 30,707. The S&P 500 was down 43 points to close at 3,856. The Nasdaq Composite Index was down 109 points to close at 11,425. Gold was down $4 to trade at $1,673 per ounce, while oil was down $1.54 to trade at $84.19 per barrel WTI.
Buckle up. We’ll let you know what transpires after the Fed release tomorrow. Stay tuned.
Have a nice evening everyone.
