(As of 7:20 am PST)
Stocks opened higher looking to extend their recent rally
to five days as many are now calling the correction over. Yesterday’s optimism has spilled over into
early trading after an upbeat outlook from St. Louis Fed President James
Bullard who called for 3% or better growth in 2014. Markets cheered Bullard’s comments a day
after embracing new central bank Chairwoman Janet Yellen. In a prepared testimony before lawmakers
yesterday, Janet Yellen reiterated her accommodative stance toward monetary
policy and reassured markets of her plans to keep interest rates low for the
time being as the Fed continues to taper its bond purchases. Yesterday’s testimony was perceived by
markets as the official “passing of the torch” between Yellen and predecessor
Ben Bernanke, and by all accounts it couldn’t have gone any smoother. International markets are higher after the
Bank of England gave an encouraging report on the UK economy and China reported
better than expected trade data. Gold
is higher by 0.25% while oil is up over 1% to $101 per barrel. Interest rates are higher as is the US
dollar. The underlying sentiment is that
the January correction is over, the economy is improving and that although we
likely won’t see a repeat of 2013, market conditions remain bullish.
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