Our Market Comments as of September 18th, 2014 US Equity markets closed in positive territory last night, after a volatile session due to the FOMC announcement. The Federal Reserve maintained a conservative language, and didnt change the wording of a considerable time before raising short term rates. In addition the #Fed reduced purchases of treasuries by 10Bn & 5BN on MBS asset purchases, and the QE3 program should finish at the next meeting in October. In addition they dowgraded the GDP growth expectation for 2014 and 2015, at 2 to 2.2% and 2.6% to 3%, respectively. The Dow Jones Industrial index gained #momentum after the accomodative language and closed higher at 17156 up 0.15%. The S&P500 gained 0.13% on the day closing at 2001, and the Technological sector Nasdaq closed at 4562, 0.21% higher. The Asia-Pacific response to the Federal Reserve’s policy update was mixed, with Japanese stocks soaring but other major indices in the red. Thanks to a weakened yen Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 rose 1 per cent to 16,049, on track for its highest closing level since early January. But Hong Kong’s Hang Seng lost 0.9 per cent and Sydney’s S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.5 per cent. European indices are expected higher this morning as a response, although cautiously risk averse ahead of the #Scottish referendum today.
Posted on: Thu, 18 Sep 2014 11:06:08 +0000