Friends
Stocks kind of limped to the month end finish line as today’s inflation data came in about as expected. The challenge for the Fed may be getting inflation from the 3s to the 2s in the coming months. That may keep rates higher for longer which the Fed has been preaching for some time now. We will see.
As for today, by the close the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 168 points to finish the day at 34,721. The S&P 500 was down 7 points to close at 4,507. The Nasdaq Composite Index was up 15 points to close at 14,034. Gold was down $5 to trade at $1,967 per ounce, while oil was up $1.83 to trade at $83.46 per barrel WTI.
Though stocks were down a bit for August it could have been much worse. Interest rates moved higher for much of the month only to retreat in the last week. The bears are wondering if that was it while the bulls are well aware that September is not always kind to stocks. First let’s see what the employment data looks like tomorrow and how stocks finish up for the week.
Have a nice evening everyone.
