US stocks close higher
TSX down nearly 4pts
Fed signal rate rise could be March
US stocks closed higher but lost some earlier gains as the US central bank signaled it may raise interest rates as early as March.
As it was they put them on hold for now.
The Dow Jones closed up 72.5 points at 26,149.
The S&P 500 added 1.38 at 2,823.
The Nasdaq gained nine points at 7,411.
In Toronto, the TSX closed down 3.84 at 15,951.
MID-SESSION
US stocks are higher at mid-session as the market turns to Janet Yellen and the Fed meeting.
The question is will the interest rate change?
"US equity markets have bounced back from the relatively big sell-off they suffered last night. The Dow Jones, S&P 500 and NASDAQ 100 are all higher today and traders are looking ahead to Janet Yellen’s last update as Federal Reserve chair later today," said analyst David Madden at CMC Markets in London.
He added:"....No change is expected on the interest rate, and it is unlikely the outlook will be altered as Ms Yellen won’t want to rock the boat while leaving the Fed.
"Traders are expecting are increase in inflation and growth forecasts from the Fed in the coming months as the weak US dollar will probably equate to higher inflation, and Trump’s tax reforms would lead to higher wages and growth."
The Dow Jones is up over 143 points at the time of writing 26,219, while the S&P 500 is over five points to the good- at 2,828.
The tech heavy Nasdaq is up over 20 points to stand at 7,422.
Janet Yellen will lead her last policy meeting after 14 years at the Federal Reserve.https://t.co/OOvaD4EUjt
— NPR (@NPR) 31 January 2018
In Toronto, the TSX is down over 16 points at 15,939.
Among the notable movers was Boeing Co (NYSE:BA), which added 5.45% in New York to stand at US$356.11 each.
The airline group posted fourth-quarter results, which solidly beat analyst expectations, with strong performance across the board.
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OPEN
US stocks are higher at the open after yesterday's sell-off as investors get back into risk.
The Dow Jones is up over 205 points at 26,275, recouping a large chunk of losses, while the S&P 500 is up over 12 to 2,834.
The tech heavy Nasdaq index is up over 42 points at 7,445.
In Toronto, the TSX is up over 15 points at 15,971.
It comes after President Trump made his State of the Union address yesterday.
Mike van Dulken, head of research at Accendo Markets, said: "Trump's State of the Union went smoothly, and no fireworks are expected from Janet Yellen's last Fed meeting.
"But markets continue to digest the cocktail of a weak USD, rising bond yields, a still high oil price and equity market jitters about overvaluation. This ahead of a plethora of big name quarterly results and of course Friday's US Jobs report."
In early deals, a notable mover is Xerox Corp (NASDAQ:XRX), which added nearly 5% to US$34.13 as it emerged it will become part of Japanese company Fujifilm Holdings Corp.
Xerox shareholders will receive a US$2.5bn special cash dividend, worth around US$9.80 a share, and will end up with 49.9% of the combined company, in a merger that cements commercial relationships between the two document imaging companies.