Federal Open Market Committee Meeting Wraps Up

For the first time this year, Federal Reserve officials met and voted to keep interest rates unchanged. In a ten to zero vote, Federal Reserve officials unanimously decided to maintain the current Fed Funds rate.

From the statement released at the conclusion of today’s meeting, central bankers said that the economy, “continued to expand at a moderate pace”. They indicated that, “the labor market has continued to strengthen and that economic activity has continued to expand.”

According to Bloomberg News, “Before the last statement, investors saw a roughly 38% chance that the first interest rate hike of 2017 would come at the Fed’s March meeting, based on trading in federal funds futures. The odds rose to about 52% for the subsequent gathering in early May and 75% for mid-June.”

Based upon The Wall Street Journal’s Fed Statement Tracker, the Central Bank’s economic outlook was only slightly changed when compared to the concluding statement on December 14, 2016.

Gold Prices Firm Slightly Following Today’s Meeting

Bearish sentiment subsided immediately following today’s meeting. Statements released by the Federal Reserve did in fact affect market sentiment. Gold prices had been under pressure, trading below $1200, but recovered and trimmed losses from this morning’s lows, closing in essence unchanged at $1209 per ounce.

The Fed’s stable outlook was warmly received by equities traders. Ending three days of lower pricing, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was able to close higher on the day gaining 26 points and closing at 19,890. However the NASDAQ continues to be the sector with the greatest gains, outperforming the S&P 500 and the Dow.

Wishing you as always, good trading,