(As of 7:15 am PST)
US stocks are trading near the
unchanged line as investors sifted through the details of the European Central
Bank’s long awaited stimulus program announced earlier today. Shortly before
Wall Street’s open, ECB President Mario Draghi took to the podium at a press
conference in Frankfurt, announcing the rollout of a monetary stimulus program
that includes the purchase of 60 billion euros per month. The program is
expected to continue until September 2016 but remains open ended as
policymakers hope to stimulate a slumping Eurozone economy. The reaction to the
announcement was muted in Europe, perhaps reflecting that investors had already
“priced in” the move in ahead of today’s announcements. At home, traders were also sifting through
economic data and earnings reports in the early going. Jobless claims fell last
week but remain above 300,000. A report from the Federal Housing Finance Agency
showed US house prices rose 0.8% in November, better than the prior month’s 0.4%
rise. Mixed earnings results are coming in, with big names like Verizon,
Southwest Airlines, Starbucks and Travelers Insurance all reporting today. Oil
prices are slightly lower while gold is flat. Interest rates are lower while
the US dollar is up.
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