In an unsurprising announcement, the Federal Reserve left interest rates unchanged on Wednesday. In a statement they succumbed once again to the fact that the economy has slowed, yet at the same time, left open the door for a hike in June.
There seems no hurry to tighten monetary policy at the Fed, but they did highlight an improving labor market.
WTI oil sprung into life once again, and price hit a new high for the year, touching about the $45 a barrel mark, a level not seen since early November 2015. There now seems little resistance in oil price until $48, which could be hit sooner rather than later.
No doubt oil will find a sweet spot up here somewhere, and create a range until the picture becomes clear of the expected output freeze from the major producing nations.
Gold prices didn’t take the news as many thought they would. Usually low interest rates means gold heads higher, yet it fell moderately after the Fed’s announcement, most likely because traders are anticipating the possible hike in June.
Gold is still forming a bullish flag pattern, ranging from the early February spike up to $1260 and the support that is forming at $1207. Whether it remains in a bullish mood during May and June will be the key to any move higher in the late half of 2016.
And stocks?..
Well some bounced. The Dow Jones, S&P500 finished positive after an uncertain start to the session. But even the Fed couldn’t save the Nasdaq 100 from heading negative. With upsets from Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) and Twitter (NYSE:TWTR) this week dragging sentiment down, it was all eyes on Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) after the bell.
Facebook smashed analyst forecasts once again, and many articles are circling on the wires calling “Facebook the new Google (NASDAQ:GOOGL)”. It seems it’s the one big internet player that is actually growing revenue and beating all forecasts.
Whether those results can help pull the rest of the Nasdaq round, we will see.
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