Is China backing out? Traders seem worried
|Stocks looked great this morning.
The major indices were up nicely at the open. And after a quiet morning, stocks rallied midday. At one point, the S&P was up 0.7% and trading at highs of the year.
But stocks pulled back during lunch, erasing morning gains.
In the afternoon, the major indices tried to find a direction. And concerns over trade helped move the markets - lower.
Stocks dropped after Bloomberg reported that there are concerns that China is backpedaling on some trade concessions. The report said that "U.S." officials are concerned that China is pushing back against American demands in trade talks."
The sell-off in the last hour of trading stock erased the day's early gains, and the major indices finished the session mixed.
Here's where the major indices ended the day:
- The S&P finished flat. Down less than a point, the S&P ended at 2,833.
- The DOW ended lower by 0.1%. Dropping 27 points, the DOW closed at 25,887.
- The NASDAQ was up 0.1%. With a 9 point gain, the NASDAQ finished at 7,724.
Crude Oil (CL) started the day at highs of the year but finished flat. Down just 2 ticks CL ended at $59.36 a barrel.
Advanced Micro (AMD) got a boost from Google today. The stock jumped 11.8% after Google confirmed that they will partner with the company and offer a new gaming streaming service.
Some traders were dazed and confused after the moves we saw in Canadian pot company Tilray (TLRY) today.
Yesterday the company reported a quarterly loss of $31 million because of higher operating expenses. But Revenue was better than expected at $15.5 million, triple the revenue earned over the past year. Today the stock was up 4.0% at the open but finished with a 3.4% loss.
The Fed kicked off their 2-day Fed meeting today.
Traders will keep an eye on the FOMC Statement released tomorrow at 2:00pm ET and the Press Conference at 2:30pm ET.
Based on the CME's FedWatch tool, traders expect the Fed to leave rates unchanged. But the real focus will be on the Fed's rate projections for 2019. Traders expect that the Fed will plan for one rate hike in 2019, down from the two that were projected at the December meeting.
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