Wednesday's Market Recap - Feds Quarter Point Rate Hike, Sends Stocks Lower.
What is The Premarket Telling Us?
7:00 AM.
Stock futures are slightly in the green this morning, ahead of the opening bell. Dow futures are up 35 points, Nasdaq futures up 21 points, and the S&P futures up 5 points. Clearly, investor are being cautious before the Fed announces it decision on interest rates later this afternoon.
On The Bond Desk:
The US 10 Year Bond Yield @ 2.96%.
Currency Desk:
Euro dollar: 1.17
UK Pound: 1.33
Crude Oil:
WTI crude oil futures at $66.25/barrel, down 0.17%.
On the Earnings Calendar:
None
In M&A News:
AT&T Time Warner mega merger was approved without conditions by the courts yesterday afternoon. A big win for AT&T.
What About The Asian And European Markets?
Major Asian markets were mixed in Wednesday's trading. Japan (Nikkei 225) rose 0.38%, Shanghai down 0.97%, Hong Kong (Hang Seng) fell 1.22%.
Major European markets also closed mixed. German (DAX) rose 0.38 %, France CAC 40 down 0.01%, London FTSE 100 was unchanged.
Market And Sector Dynamics
Stocks opened today's trading session with modest gains. The Dow gained 24 points, Nasdaq added 7 points, and the S&P was up 2 points. Today the Fed is expected to announce a .25% increase in its benchmark interest rate.
Shares of US bank were on the rise early in the session, but gave up those gains later in the morning session, taking markets into negative territory.
Shares of telecommunication services and media shares also lost ground, following the Judges approval of the AT&T Time Warner deal, late yesterday evening.
The Dow sank lower after the announcement of the quarter point rate hike by the Fed, around 2:00 PM. Stocks closed at the low of the day.
Ten of the eleven of the S&P sectors closed the day with losses, led by telecommunication services, real estate, basic materials, industrials, energy, consumer staples, and financials.
Factors Influencing Today's Market
Crude oil traded lower in today's session. WTI crude oil prices closed at $66.64/barrel, up 0.39%.
Approval of the AT&T Time Warner deal.
Federal Reserve quarter hike in benchmark interest rates.
This week's EIA Petroleum Status Report shows crude oil inventories fell 4.1 million barrels vs a gain of 2.1 million barrels last week.
Asian and European markets closed their session mixed.
Market Close Volume Traded And Advance Decline Ratio
When the markets closed, the Dow fell 119.53 points, Nasdaq lost 8.09 points, and the S&P gave up 11.22 points. Total NYSE volume traded, 3.75 billion shares. Declining shares outpaced Advancing shares better than 2:1.
Data Sources: Bloomberg, CNBC, CNN Money, Google Finance, Market Watch, TD Ameritrade, Yahoo Finance.
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