Friends
Stocks sold off on the opening of trading, but the bulls regrouped and by midday had stocks trading near the breakeven level. For the rest of the trading session traders seemed to be biding time before tomorrow’s conclusion of the FOMC meeting. On the economic front a downward revision to January’s retail sales numbers overshadowed a decent February number. The PPI came in a bit soft, while the Empire State Manufacturing number actually was a little better than expected.
As for stocks, by the close the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 22 points to finish the day at 17,251. The S&P 500 was down 3 points to close at 2015. Gold was down $10 to trade at $1,234 per ounce, while oil was down $.74 to trade at $36.44 per barrel WTI.
All eyes will be focused on the release of the Fed statement tomorrow afternoon. Again, there should not be any major surprises, but investors will be looking towards the dots that Janet Yellen references which indicate just what the Fed Governors are expecting economic wise and thus when they see rate hikes occurring. It will be interesting to see how markets react, as the past few sessions have found traders basically sitting on their hands. Stay tuned.
Have a nice evening everyone.
