Monday, July 30, 2012

Will It or Won't It? Market Watches Fed for Signs of Action

Markets may close out the month of July on a quiet note, ahead of the Fed’s Wednesday afternoon statement and the European Central Bank’s meeting Thursday.
The Fed starts its two-day meeting Tuesday, and there is anticipation it could take action, including another round of quantitative easing. However, most Fed watchers do not expect the Fed to announce a third quantitative easing program yet, but it could lay the groundwork for easing in September. Some of the other actions it could take Wednesday include extending the time frame for extremely low interest rates to mid-2015 from 2014.
Stocks finished slightly lower Tuesday, after moving in a fairly narrow range most of the day. The biggest mover was Nasdaq, down 12 points at 2945. The Dow fell 2 points to 13,073, and the S&P 500 was down less than a point at 1385. For the month, the Dow is up 1.5 percent, the S&P 500 is up 1.7 percent and the Nasdaq is up 0.4 percent.
Treasury yields fell and the 10-year slipped to 1.4985 percent. 

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