Stock closed mixed, after moving in a narrow range with little on the economic or corporate docket ahead of the Federal Reserve's meeting and economic reports due later in the week. The Fed is expected to announce Tuesday that it will leave key interest rates unchanged at very low levels. But investors will be looking for clues as to how the central bank plans to proceed in the coming months. Large banks slid roughly 1%, including Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, Morgan Stanley, Credit Suisse and Jefferies. Also, China reported the largest trade deficit in more than two decades, causing investors to reconsider global growth prospects and demand for commodities. Tech stocks closed mostly in the red, weighed down by a selloff in the chip sector. Apple rose 1.25% after the co. said in a statement that it has sold out of the new iPad tablets that it had set aside for preorders. Oracle gave 1.4% after Jefferies & Co. cut its rating on the software giant to hold from buy, citing “increased challenges to growth.” In the evening trade Yahoo climbed 0.41% following news that the company was suing Facebook Inc. Implied volatility little changed on light trading volumes.
Tuesday, March 13, 2012
In a wait-and-see mode ahead of Fed
Stock closed mixed, after moving in a narrow range with little on the economic or corporate docket ahead of the Federal Reserve's meeting and economic reports due later in the week. The Fed is expected to announce Tuesday that it will leave key interest rates unchanged at very low levels. But investors will be looking for clues as to how the central bank plans to proceed in the coming months. Large banks slid roughly 1%, including Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, Morgan Stanley, Credit Suisse and Jefferies. Also, China reported the largest trade deficit in more than two decades, causing investors to reconsider global growth prospects and demand for commodities. Tech stocks closed mostly in the red, weighed down by a selloff in the chip sector. Apple rose 1.25% after the co. said in a statement that it has sold out of the new iPad tablets that it had set aside for preorders. Oracle gave 1.4% after Jefferies & Co. cut its rating on the software giant to hold from buy, citing “increased challenges to growth.” In the evening trade Yahoo climbed 0.41% following news that the company was suing Facebook Inc. Implied volatility little changed on light trading volumes.
