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After Yellen and the FOMC announced they were not raising interest rates, the market rallied. Free money wins once again. SPX ran up $11 to $2027 and RUT rallied $8 to close at $1075. Volatility pulled back with the VIX losing almost two points to 15.1%, the low for the year. Trading volume popped upward with 2.4 billion shares of the S&P 500 companies trading today. Trading rose 17% on the NYSE and trading increased 5% on NASDAQ.
Today's rally puts SPX firmly above the 200 dma, but can this rally continue? The economic data aren't what one would call booming.
The CPI reported a drop of 0.2% for February. This continues to amaze me. A flat CPI is completely opposite my own experience in the marketplace. Are your grocery bills flat or declining?
Housing starts increased to 1178k, but building permits fell to 1167k. But both numbers are positive for the real estate market. Industrial production decreased 0.5% in February after a 0.8% increase in January. And capacity utilization decreased to 76.7% in February. Do these numbers look like a booming economy?
Often, the day after the Fed announcement presents a market reversal as analysts think through market implications. We'll see. For now, it's time for the rose colored glasses.
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The markets continued to trade in low volume and largely sideways today as traders await the announcement from the FOMC tomorrow afternoon. SPX traded down as far as $2005 before recovering to close at $2016 for a $4 loss today. RUT didn't recover, closing down $18 at $1067. Volatility was flat with the VIX unchanged at 16.8%. Trading volume was flat with two billion shares of the S&P 500 companies trading, identical to yesterday's volume. Trading volume rose 2% on the NYSE and also rose 5% on NASDAQ.
Retail sales reported a decline of 0.1% for February, but that was an improvement over the -0.4% decline in January. What is everyone doing with their savings at the gas pump? The PPI for February declined 0.2%, down from a 0.1% increase in January. The Empire manufacturing survey (New York Federal reserve) increased to 0.6 in March, up from last month's -16.6.
Economic data continue to be pretty weak. It doesn't seem likely that the Fed will increase interest rates at this meeting, but who knows? I don't think we will see much movement in the market between now and 2 pm ET tomorrow.
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Yesterday, it seemed as though the market wasn't too happy with the ECB's announcement and Mario Draghi's news conference. But after some reflection, the bulls came out swinging this morning and never backed off. Apparently, negative interest rates are the friend of the bulls.
SPX closed up $33 at $2022. RUT closed at $1088 for a gain of $24. Volatility pulled back with the VIX dropping two points to 16.5%. Trading volume contracted a bit with 2.4 billion shares of the S&P 500 companies trading today. Trading volume dropped 9% on the NYSE and declined 8% on NASDAQ. SPX closed right at the 200 dma. I was surprised it didn't bounce off the 200 dma. We'll see on Monday. Breaking that level will confirm the end of the correction and send the doomsday folk to the back room.
There wasn't any significant economic data reported today. Traders will begin to focus on the FOMC meeting and announcement next week. We have long list of economic data coming out next week: PPI, CPI, retail sales, housing starts, building permits, and several others. But the Fed announcement is the biggy (technical term).
Have a great weekend. We are actually having some nice weather in Chicago.
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The markets were quiet today as traders begin to anticipate the FOMC announcement on Wednesday. The prevalent opinion of the Fed watchers is that no interest rate hike is on tap, but many observers are worried.
SPX backed off three dollars to close at $2020 and RUT closed down $3 at $1084. Volatility rose a bit as traders begin to hedge positions; the VIX closed at 16.9%, up about 0.4 points.
There were no significant economic data reports today. The PPI, CPI, industrial production figures, capacity utilization, and weekly unemployment claims come later in the week, but the gorilla in the room is the announcement from the FOMC Wednesday afternoon.
Trading volume was down today with only two billion shares of the S&P 500 companies trading today. Trading volume declined 14% on the NYSE and was down 18% on NASDAQ.
If the Fed announcement is a non-event for the market, will the bullish run of the past several weeks continue? SPX is holding right at the 200 dma, and depending on how one draws the bearish trend line from the November, December and January highs, SPX is at or slightly below that trend line. Traders are watching for a break-out above that trend line to be confident that the bulls are back in charge. Otherwise, the conventional wisdom is that this has been a short-lived rally within a bearish trend. It is hard to predict the market's reaction to the Fed's announcement. Every word will be parsed.
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The markets appeared to be just treading water today as they anticipate the meeting tomorrow with Mario Draghi and the ECB.
SPX closed up $10 at $1989 and RUT increased $5 to $1073. Volatility relaxed a little with the VIX falling about a third of a point to 18.3%. Trading volume continued to decline with 2.3 billion shares of the S&P 500 trading today. Trading volume declined 12% on the NYSE and also dropped 9% on NASDAQ.
No significant economic news came out today. Will Draghi's actions tomorrow push our markets higher? Or will it serve as a reminder that the central banks are running out of bullets? It is hard to predict the direction, but it will likely move our markets.
SPX has run up against resistance at $2000. That level and the 200 dma at $2020 are the levels that need to be broken before we can be reasonably confident the downdraft so far this year has been curtailed. Many analysts have drawn a bearish trend line from the December highs, and that trend line is very close to the 200 dma. So that level on SPX is crucial to watch.
So we wait on Mario...
