March 28th 2014 – Stocks Gain, But Down For The Week

U.S. stocks trimmed their gains Friday afternoon, with the S&P 500 down for a second week in three, as investors positioned for the end of the quarter on Monday.

J.P. Morgan on Friday revised its estimate of real annualized GDP growth in the first quarter from 2 percent to 1.5 percent, while leaving its projection for the second quarter unchanged at 2.5 percent.

A report Friday had consumer spending rising 0.3 percent in February after climbing by a revised 0.2 percent in January. Income rose 0.3 percent last month after rising by the same margin in January.

Another report Friday from the Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan index found consumer sentiment hit 80 in March, just below an 80.5 estimate.

In a speech reported by state media on Friday, China’s premier indicated the Beijing government was prepared to take action to bolster the world’s second biggest economy, saying the government would gradually roll out targeted measures to help economic activity.

And on Wednesday, Germany’s Bundesbank said the ECB could buy loans and other assets from banks to support the euro-zone economy, with the statement marking a dramatic departure from its previous stance on the policy.

News Sources:  CNBC and CNN Money

My Market View:

An interesting turn of event technically.  It was getting a bit oversold, and particularly on the Nasdaq and small caps stocks, so perhaps we will see a multi-day bounce here.  But it certainly remains choppy and directionless.