(As of 7:25 am pacific)
Markets are taking a short breather this morning after
last week’s rally which saw the S&P500 hit a 5 year high. After a week which saw the Federal Reserve
announce its 3rd round of stimulus and a major German constitutional
court ruling clear the way for more stimulus in Europe, the markets are trying
to get back to reality today. It’s not a
pullback by any means, but perhaps some small profits being taken off the
table. The other factor keeping the
markets lower this morning was a surprise drop in the Empire State Index. The gauge which measures manufacturing activity
in the New York area decreased unexpectedly in September recording its lowest
reading since November 2010. In company
news, shares of Apple are 1% higher this morning as the tech giant reported
that pre-orders for the new iPhone 5 topped 2 million units in the 24 hours
after announcing its release last week.
European shares are lower today as finance ministers were unable to come
to terms for a more unified banking sector in a meeting on Friday. Asian markets were higher except for Chinese
shares after Citigroup cut its 2013 growth forecast. Oil and gold are slightly higher and the US
dollar is also edging up. Interest rates
have come down slightly and volatility is low.
It looks to be a quiet day today with some tight range trading as
investors look to the week ahead for more direction.
