(As of 7:20 am PST)
US stocks opened higher as investors digested a slew of
economic data ahead of the Federal Reserve’s latest policy decision. The US economy expanded in the second quarter
with US GDP growth coming in at 1.7%.
Growth was aided by consumer spending and was better than economists’
expectations of a 1% gain. GDP for Q1
was revised down from 1.8% to 1.1% however.
The economy continues to muddle along as growth has remained below 2%
for three straight quarters. In other economic
news, Chicago PMI, also known as the business barometer, edged up in July
although slightly lower than expectations.
Lastly, payroll processor ADP reported the private sector added 200,000
jobs in July. The ADP number is strong,
but as we’ve seen in the past, is less reliable than Friday’s US non-farm
payrolls report. In company news, it’s
worth noting that shares of Facebook have climbed above their IPO price for the
first time since going public in May of last year. Overseas trade is choppy. European markets have been back and forth
most of the day as investors are cautious going into the Fed’s policy decision
later today. Asian markets are also
lower ahead of the news. A policy
statement is due out from the Fed at 2 pm EST today. Investors will be paying close attention to
any signs of the Fed reducing its assets purchase and if so, when that “tapering”
will happen. The “tapering” talk has
dominated headlines for the past 6 months and today’s policy statement will
have investors glued to the television.
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