(As of 7:17 am PST)
Investors are hesitant to put on new positions in early
trade as they await the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy decision later this
morning. After two days of meetings, the
Fed will provide guidance today on its plans to continue or taper its “easy
money” bond-buying programs. Most
analysts believe poor economic data lately has provided room for the Fed to stay
the course on its policies. Talk about
tapering perhaps was too soon as markets were bought up the past few days on
rumors that the Fed would continue its QE programs as usual. Markets will know for sure the Fed’s plans in
just a few hours as the Fed will release a policy statement which will be
followed by a Q & A style press conference with Bernanke himself. Global markets are fixated on the Fed as
well. Europe is cautiously lower while Asian markets ended the day on a mixed
note. Gold is up 0.5% and interest rates
are nearly unchanged. Look for
volatility to pick up as the day progresses towards the Fed’s
announcement. As one headline read this
morning, however, “Let’s get this over and done with, Fed.”
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