The Closing Bell: Stocks Waver After Fed Decision, Erasing Earlier Gains

Ted

( The Closing Bell will be updated sometime after 4:00 PM CDST to include the latest update from IBD and Bloomberg)

FYI: U.S. stocks rose, then erased some of those gains Wednesday after the Federal Reserve left interest rates unchanged and a majority of officials signaled they might not raise them at all this year.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 141 points, or 0.55%, at 25745, after falling as much as 217 points earlier in the day and then rising for a bit after the Fed’s announcement. The S&P 500 fell 0..24%. The benchmark equity gauge has rebounded 13% this year, pulling within about 3.5% of last September’s all-time high. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite climbed 0.7%.

Bond yields and the dollar slumped following the Fed’s cautious projections, with the yield on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury note falling to 2.535%, according to Tradeweb, from 2.614% Tuesday. Bond yields fall as prices rise. The WSJ Dollar Index, which tracks the dollar against a basket of 16 other currencies, fell 0.5%.

FedEx shares fell 4.5% Wednesday after the shipping company cut its outlook for the second consecutive quarter and said weaker global trade trends continue to harm its international shipping business.

Despite slowing economic growth, some investors hope strength in the U.S. consumer sector will underpin revenue gains for large companies in 2019. General Mills shares rose 3.1% following the packaged-food maker’s upbeat profit forecast, a sign the company’s price increases are helping lift performance.

Elsewhere, the Stoxx Europe 600 fell 0.9%. Anxiety about the U.K.’s exit from the European Union has loomed over European markets recently. The British pound fell against the dollar Wednesday after the U.K. asked the EU to delay its departure from the bloc until June 30, an extension that if approved would give Prime Minister Theresa May just months to break an impasse in Parliament over her withdrawal deal.

In Asia, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fell 0.5%, while Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average inched up 0.2%.
U.S. stocks rose, then erased some of those gains Wednesday after the Federal Reserve left interest rates unchanged and a majority of officials signaled they might not raise them at all this year.

Of the Eleven S&P 500 Sectors, there were five winners led by Energy and Communication Services. Financials led the other six down.
Regards
Ted
Bloomberg Evening Briefing:
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-03-20/your-evening-briefing

MarketWatch:
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/stock-futures-edge-lower-as-investors-await-fed-decision-2019-03-20/print

WSJ:
https://www.wsj.com/articles/global-stocks-weaken-ahead-of-new-round-of-u-s-china-trade-talks-11553072835

Bloomberg:
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-03-19/asian-stocks-set-for-muted-start-before-fed-markets-wrap?srnd=premium

IBD:
https://www.investors.com/market-trend/stock-market-today/dow-jones-stumbles-fang-stocks-give-nasdaq-lift/

Reuters:
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-stocks/fedex-outlook-weighs-on-wall-street-ahead-of-fed-policy-decision-idUSKCN1R119I

CNBC:
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/03/20/stock-market-us-stocks-focus-on-fed-rate-decision.html

U.K.:
https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-britain-stocks/ftse-100s-winning-streak-broken-as-brexit-delay-plea-hits-financials-idUKKCN1R10TN

Europe:
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-europe-stocks/european-stocks-dip-after-five-day-rally-bayer-fall-weighs-on-dax-idUSKCN1R10U0

Asia:
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/asian-markets-largely-down-as-investors-take-wait-and-see-approach-2019-03-19/print

Bonds:
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/03/20/us-treasury-yields-tick-lower-ahead-of-fed-rate-decision.html

Currencies:
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/03/20/forex-market-federal-reserve-brexit-vote-in-focus.html

Oil:
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/03/20/oil-market-us-china-trade-talks-supply-cuts-in-focus.html

Gold
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/03/20/gold-market-federal-reserve-dollar-moves-in-focus.html

WSJ: Markets At A Glance:
https://markets.wsj.com/us

Major ETFs % Change:
https://www.barchart.com/etfs-funds/etf-monitor

SPDR's Sector Tracker:
http://www.sectorspdr.com/sectorspdr/tools/sector-tracker

SPDR's Bloomberg Sector Performance Pie Chart:
https://www.bloomberg.com/markets/sectors

Current Futures:
https://finviz.com/futures.ashx

Ted

MFO Members: The Closing Bell is now updated to include IBD's article and Bloomberg's Evening Briefing.
Regards,
Ted

Old_Joe

■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ THIS POST IS IN VIOLATION OF MFO POSTING STANDARDS ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■

⇒ This post had few views and no comments. It has been artificially "bumped" into the COMMENTS + CATEGORY by the poster himself, without legitimate qualifying comments.

He deliberately and cynically does this with spurious "Update" comments so as to force this post to your attention. He is well aware that this is in violation of MFO standard practice, but he believes that the rules for him are different than those for everyone else.

Old_Joe

Even your cheating doesn't work, Ted. No post that you have artificially boosted into the "Comment+" section has generated even one honest comment from another viewer. Even with all of your cheating your viewer numbers are pathetic.

Regards
OJ

Ted

@MFO Members: For the record my links on 3/20/19 yielded 518 views !
Regards,
Ted

Old_Joe

Yeah, that's about 2 views per link post.

Ted

MFO Members: There were 28 links yielding 518 views = 18.5 views per link. You would think OJ would contribute something positive to the board rather worry what I do. He should accentuate the positive, eliminate the negative, latch on to the affirmative and don't mess with the Linkster
Regards
Ted

Old_Joe

"The Linkster". You mean "The Cheater".