June 17th 2014 – Stocks rise for third day with Fed decision ahead

Market View:

Nice rally led by the tech stocks managed to steady the ship despite tentions from other parts of the world.

There actually is a thing called a world cup rally, perhaps the USA team doing well will help the market, who knows?  It’s possible.  Amazingly, the USA V Ghana game was the most watched sporting event in the history of US sports.

Anyway, back to the market…the Fed will release its statement tomorrow and no changes of any significance to the usual taper are expected, but you just never know.

Market News:

U.S. stocks on Tuesday extended gains into a third session after a May rise in consumer prices came in larger than expected, with the data coming a day ahead of the Federal Reserve’s monetary-policy decision.

E-Trade Financial rallied as investors saw little reason to believe market rules for the brokerage and others would change as a result of a Senate panel hearing on high-frequency trading. Edwards Lifesciences jumped after garnering regulatory approval for a heart device. Expedia and Netflix both gained as analysts advised buying shares of the online travel site and video-streaming service.

The Labor Department’s consumer price index jumped 0.4 percent in May, with the report coming as the Fed starts a two-day monetary-policy session.

An increase in inflation reduces the risk of an extended decline in prices that crimps economic growth, and offers the Fed a reason to maintain their program of scaling back monetary easing.

The Commerce Department reported housing starts declined 6.5 percent in May, versus 12.7 percent in April.

The White House on Monday said President Barack Obama was deploying about 275 U.S. troops to guard the American embassy and staff in Baghdad.

Emerging market investors kept an eye on Argentina’s stock market after yesterday’s 10% drop. The benchmark Merval index closed 4.25% higher.

The US Supreme Court declined to hear a major part of the country’s appeal of a lower court ruling ordering it to pay creditors from a 2001 default who are seeking full payment. Many fear the decision may push Argentina close to another default.

Elsewhere in the world, Asian stocks were mixed, with Chinese stocks lower, India’s Sensex closing 1.3% higher and Japanese stocks positive. European stocks were also mixed, with the FTSE 100 index closing a hair higher.

News Sources:  CNBC and CNN Money