(As of 7:15 am PST)
Stocks are lower on another quiet session on Wall Street. With little economic data out today, market
direction is difficult to predict. Taper
speculation has increased following yesterday’s Fed speeches where comments
seemed to suggest the central bank could very likely begin tapering out of its
Dec. 17-18 policy meeting. In a surprise
move gold prices are higher by 2.5%. In
the past gold has been negatively correlated with the taper talk as a
tightening of the loose money supply would be a negative for gold,
traditionally viewed as an inflation hedge.
Perhaps we’re seeing a foreshadowing of the market’s reaction to the
actual event of the taper and that it’s fairly priced in at this point. In any case, the market has run up nicely at
the end of the year and it wouldn’t be a surprise to see more profit taking as
the week goes on. In other news,
European stocks are mixed and Asian markets finished lower on disappointing
Chinese data. Oil is up 1% on an expected
drop in supply inventories. Interest
rates are down as is the US dollar.
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