July 30th 2014 – Weak Market Despite GDP Uptick

Market View:

Despite strong economic growth and no major surprises from the Federal Reserve, the bulls couldn’t quite get it together Wednesday.  After a nice uptick at the open the market slowly sold off.

It seems that my feeling for a recovery from the selling that started last week was a little premature.  But there is a short term bottom here somewhere, today could be that marker.

Market News:

U.S. stocks wavered on Wednesday after a report had the economy growing more than expected in the second quarter and the Federal Reserve continued tapering asset purchases and its ultra-easy monetary policy.

Voting to cut another $10 billion from its monthly bond buys, the central bank left its short-term interest rate target near zero and signalled minimal cheer about growth.

Fed Bank of Philadelphia President Charles Plosser was the sole dissenter, objecting to the “considerable time” phrasing as related to the window of how long the central bank would wait until it begins raising the Fed funds rate.

Stocks had mostly fallen on Wednesday after the Commerce Department reported the economy grew 4 percent in the second quarter, with the faster-than-estimated pace fuelling speculation that the Federal Reserve could move on rates more quickly than anticipated.

Russian market mystery: Trading on Moscow’s main stock market was halted for a lengthy period earlier Wednesday. But the MICEX added 2% once trading resumed as investors were relieved that new European and U.S. sanctions against Russia were not as bad as feared.

European markets ended lower, with stocks in Paris falling more than 1%. Asian markets mostly closed with small gains.

Thursday:

Earnings: Exxon Mobil, Conoco Phillips, Diageo, Occidental Petroleum, Royal Dutch Shell, Public Storage, Siemens, MasterCard. A-B InBev, AstraZeneca, Sanofi, Tesla, Expedia, GoPro, LinkedIn, Time Warner Cable, Alcatel-Lucent, Apache, Teva, Delphi Automotive, Ball Corp, Becton Dickinson, CME Group, Hyatt, Colgate-Palmolive, Kellogg, Marathon Petroleum, Mosaic, Newell Rubbermaid, McKesson, PG&E, Sony, Avon Products, Beazer Homes, Fortress Investments, Scana, Generac, DirecTV, 3-D Systems, SunPower, Seattle Genetics

8:30 a.m. Jobless claims

8:30 a.m. Employment cost index, 2Q

9:45 a.m. Chicago PMI

New Sources:  CNN Money & CNBC