"U.S. stocks seesawed Wednesday amid a widely-anticipated Republican victory and the Federal Reserve's announcement of a second round of economy-boosting asset purchases, but managed to end the session with modest gains, pushing the Dow and Nasdaq to their highest levels in over two years.
The Fed said it will buy$600 billion in long-term Treasuries by the middle of next year, at the pace of $75 billion a month.
The three major indexes drifted between negative and positive territory immediately following the announcement, but posted slight gains toward the end of the session.
The Fed policy, known as quantitative easing, is designed to put downward pressure on interest rates and pump money into the economy. It is also seen as a way for the Fed to combat deflation, a debilitating cycle of falling prices and demand.
Market participants and economists expected the Fed would buy a total between $500 billion and $1 trillion." [Source: cnnmoney.com]
The DJIA Index finished the trading session Up 26.41; and The SPI Futures are currently: Up 8 pts atm.
Of note in the US this evening:
BOE Announcement [Market moving indicator]
ECB Announcement [Market moving indicator]
Jobless Claims [Merits extra attention]
Productivity and Costs [Merits extra attention]
EIA Natural Gas Report [Merits extra attention]
...AND...
Of note in Australia today:
Retail Sales Trend (MoM) (Sep) [Moderate volatility expected] [The Retail Sales released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics is a survey of goods sold by retailers is based on a sampling of retail stores of different types and sizes and it''s considered as an indicator of the pace of the Australian economy. It shows the performance of the retail sector over the short and mid-term. Positive economic growth anticipates bullish trends for the AUD, while a low reading is seen as negative or bearish.]
AiG Performance of Construction Index (Oct) [Moderate volatility expected] [Based on 120 interviews to companies, the HIA/AiG Performance of Construction Index, released by the Australian Industry Group and the Housing Industry Association, is considered as an indicator that measures the conditions on the short and medium term in the construction market. Companies answer questions related to production, employment, prices supplier deliveries, inventories and new orders. A high reading is seen as positive, or bullish for the AUD, while a low reading is seen as negative, or bearish.]
Trade Balance (Sep) [The trade balance released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics is the difference in the value of its imports and exports of Australian goods. Export data can give an important reflection of Australian growth, while imports provide an indication of domestic demand. Trade Balance gives an early indication of the net export performance. If a steady demand in exchange for Australian exports is seen, that would turn into a positive growth in the trade balance, and that should be positive for the AUD.]
Gold is currently trading Down $1.40 & is sitting at US$1,347.40/oz atm [Source: Kitco] Oil is currently trading Up $0.31 & is sitting at US$85.00/oz atm [Source: Bloomberg] The Dollar: The AUD is currently trading @ 1.0048 cents to the US Dollar[Source: Forex. Live]
