Friends
Despite a CPI number that was as expected and not too hot or too cold, stocks weren’t able to hold their early gains and sold off during the afternoon part of the trading session. Perhaps the markets were concerned about the continuous turnover in the White House with Secretary of State Rex Tillerson getting the axe today, but besides more tariff talk, I think it might be more that we could be forming a trading range and were simply beginning to push up against resistance.
For the day, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 171 points to close at 25,007. The S&P 500 was down 17 points to close at 2,765. Gold was up $6 to trade at $1,326 per ounce, while oil was down $.78 to trade at $60.58 per barrel WTI.
We’ll get the PPI and Retail Sales numbers tomorrow, Jobless Claims, Philly Fed, Empire State Manufacturing and Import and Export Prices on Thursday, and Housing Starts, Industrial Production and Consumer Sentiment on Friday. All these numbers will have a cumulative effect as we gear up for next week’s FOMC meeting. At the moment the feeling is that the Fed could be poised to raise rates another quarter of a percent (Fed Funds) next week. Let’s see how the rest of the week plays out.
Have a nice evening everyone.
