The Dow Jones industrial average shed 81.32 points, or 0.83 percent, to 9,748.55. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index declined 10.79 points, or 1.01 percent, to 1,060.87. The Nasdaq Composite Index lost 14.88 points, or 0.69 percent, to 2,131.42.The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index of top shares closed up 0.2 percent at 1,006.09 points, as investors awaited the U.S. Federal Reserve’s rate decision, with gains in banks outpacing falls in energy stocks. On Thursday, Japan’s Nikkei average rose 1.7 percent to a one-month closing high.

According to data released yesterday, as the services sector returned to positive territory, private sector output in the Eurozone increased for the second consecutive month in September. Yesterday the Federal Reserve left interest rates unchanged and issued a statement boosting hopes that the world’s biggest economy is emerging from recession. The Fed said it is to keep rates low in order to support the post-slump recovery. The OECD signaled that Switzerland would soon be taken off a list of financial centers judged to fall short of international standards of cooperation in tax evasion inquiries.
The credit crunch has caused the total value and volume of global mergers and acquisitions (M&A). The FT writes, the Federal Reserve is looking to team up with the money-market mutual fund industry as part of its strategy to ensure that its unconventional policies to stimulate the economy do not produce a bout of post-crisis inflation.

Due for release today there is USD Existing Home Sales, NZD Trade Balance, JPY Japan Meeting Minutes.

By Greg Secker

This entry was posted on September 24, 2009 at 9:15 am. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Posted in Greg's Commentary by Greg No Comments Yet