A combination of factors stemming from the upcoming FOMC meeting have pressured U.S. equities lower, moved U.S. Treasury Notes and bonds higher, and had a substantial impact on taking the U.S. dollar higher.

Gold continues to trade in a range-bound manner, but over the last five weeks, gold prices have gained value during four of those weeks. Although gold has traded lower yesterday and today, ending the week with a moderate gain of 0.6%.

Multiple sectors and asset classes in the financial markets came under pressure today as market participants prepare for the real possibility that the Federal Reserve will begin a series of multiple interest rate hikes beginning in March of this year.