The bond markets steadied, the USD fell and stocks edged ahead Wednesday as central banks from Washington to Wellington vowed to keep monetary policy loose for a long time, giving investors enough confidence to seek out riskier assets.
Fed Chairman Powell told Congress Tuesday the economy remained “a long way” from employment and inflation goals and that rates would stay low and bond buying proceed apace until there was “substantial further progress”. Dovish in the Main!
The Reserve Bank of New Zealand Wednesday made no changes to its rates or bond purchase programe either and said policy will need to remain stimulatory until inflation is sustained at 2% and employment hits maximum levels.
That together was enough to reassure investors that monetary policy makers will not rush to raise rates even if inflation accelerates.
Tuesday, the benchmark US stock market indexes finished at: DJIA +14.48 at 31536.17, NAS Comp -67.85 at 13465.23, S&P 500 +4.80 at 3881.30
Volume: Trade on the NYSE came in at 1.3-B/shares exchanged
HeffX-LTN’s overall technical outlook for the major US stock market indexes is Bullish with a Very Bullish bias, in here.
- Russell 2000 +13.0% YTD
- NAS Comp +4.5% YTD
- S&P 500 +3.3% YTD
- DJIA +3.0% YTD
Looking Ahead: Investors will receive New Home Sales for January and the weekly MBA Mortgage Applications Index Wednesday.
Have a healthy day, Keep the Faith!
