Friends
As we get nearer to the end of the year, volatility seems to be picking up. Stocks began the day in negative territory only to turn on a dime and head north when the price of oil did the same. The Dow raced to a nearly 200 point gain by mid-morning, but then turned on a dime once again once oil turned negative- again. As measured by the Dow stocks fell over 150 points by midday and spent the rest of the session trying to recover from the dramatic drop-somewhat successfully.
By the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 75 points to close at 17,492. The S&P 500 was down 15 points to finish the day at 2047. Gold was down $1 to trade at $1074 per ounce, while oil was down $.60 to trade at $36.91 per barrel WTI.
Yes, the FOMC meeting looms next week, but market participants seem to be very jittery about the price of oil recently (rightfully so). Once again, will the Fed be influenced by recent market “volatility” or is Fed Chair Yellen going to hold the hard line and begin the tightening process. Time will tell, but it will be interesting to see how the markets attempt to influence the decision-if at all.
Have a nice evening everyone.
