US Stock Indexes Finish Cautiously Up On Light Volume

$FDX, $COF, $STI, $KEY, $PBCT, $NTRS, $MSFT, $SBUX

DJIA +30.59 at 17935.20, NAS 100 +9.33 at 5064.88, S&P 100+4.14 at 2100.43

Volatility: CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) traded below 15.

Volume: trade was light with about 709-M/shares exchanging hands on the NYSE.

US stock indexes finished modestly higher as investors sought insight on the timing of a rate hike from the Federal Reserve statement and Fed Chairwoman Janet Yellen’s press conference remarks.

The DJIA closed up 31.26 pts, or 0.17%, at 17,935.74

The S&P 500 closed up 4.15 pts, or 0.20 pts, at 2,100.44,

The NAS 100 closed up 9.33 pts, or 0.18%, at 5,064.88.

The FOMC held interest rates at Zero and provided few clues about when the 1st rate hike in 9 yr would happen, it downgraded the GDP forecast for the year to 1.8-2% while raising longer-term growth expectations.

Stocks extended early gains as Yellen said during an afternoon press conference that markets should focus on the pace of rate increase rather than the timing of the initial hike. Participants sold into the stock rally.

The utilities stock sector lead 8 sectors higher and the financial and energy stock sectors were the 2 decliners.

The US 10-yr T-Note yield was 2.31% unchanged on the day.

.DXY fell more than half a percent, with EUR near 1.134 and the Buck higher Vs the JPY at 123/

Participants are keeping an eye on the Greece debt negotiations ahead of the euro group meeting of regional finance ministers Thursday. Greece does not have enough money to make the debt repayment to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) due 30 June.

Trade in Global Markets with the World’s Leading Platform Open an account here , call us at 305 490 4116, or email us to get started.

Stocks of Interest

FedEx (NYSE:FDX) closed down 3% to weigh on the Dow transports after the company missed earnings and revenue expectations Wednesday.

The financial stock sector reversed after initially gaining

Capital One Financial (NYSE:COF), SunTrust (NYSE:STI), KeyCorp (NYSE:KEY), People’s United Financial (NASDAQ:PBCT) and Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) closing below new intra-day highs set during the session.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) finished the day 0.30% higher after the company’s announced changes to its C-team.

Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX) closed at an all-time high on news the firm will close all 23 of its La Boulange retail locations by the end of September.

WTI Crude Oil futures finished down 5 cents at 59.92 bbl on the New York Merc.

US Gold futures finished 4.10 lower at 1,176.80 oz..

Thursday

Earnings: Kroger, Rite Aid, Red Hat, Finisar, Smith & Wesson

8:30 a EDT.: Initial claims

8:30 a EDT.: CPI

8:30 a EDT.: Current account Q-1

10 a EDT.: Philadelphia Fed survey

Stay tuned…

HeffX-LTN