Friends
The industrial production number seems to have been weak enough this morning to help fuel a rally in stocks (I only partly jest). With the FOMC meeting beginning tomorrow, traders took another, in a long line of recent disappointing economic data, as a cue that perhaps the Fed will back off on its intention to begin to raise interest rates soon. Stocks rallied from the opening bell and were able to add to their gains as the trading session wore on.
By the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 228 points to finish the day at 17,977. The S&P 500 was up 27 points to close at 2081. Gold was up $1 to trade at $1153 per ounce, while oil touched on six year lows with WTI down $.95 to trade at $43.89 per barrel.
As mentioned, the FOMC meeting begins tomorrow and we’ll get the statement and a Yellen press conference on Wednesday. Market participants will look to see what terms will be eliminated (if any) from the statement and what terms or phrases might be added. In the meantime, it looks like we are destined to day to day volatility where the market seems to have no correlation to what happened the day before. It should be an interesting week.
Have a nice evening everyone.
