MARKETS AT MIDDAY:Dow Jones Industrial Average: 10,666, down 0.5%
Nasdaq Composite Index: 2575, down 0.2%S&P 500: 1330, down 0.5%
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Waiting for GreenspanBy Michele Rosen
The major indexes were all down as of midday, as the yield on the
30-year Treasury bond resumed its climb.
Investors have had little news to hang their hats on this week,
so inflation and interest rate fears have once again taken center
stage. As a result, the T-bond yield is back up to 6.115%, within
striking range of its recent ceiling of 6.135%.
The stock market has returned to the pattern it was stuck in before
the release of the Consumer Price Index and Federal Reserve Chairman
Alan Greenspan's mild remarks to Congress last week--higher bond
yields, low volume and lower stock prices.
The pattern is likely to hold until Tuesday or Wednesday, when
the Fed announces it plans for interest rates. A 25 basis point
hike has already been baked into stock prices, but analysts now
worry that the Fed could raise interest rates by 50 basis points,
or could indicate that a series of rate hikes are in the works.
Either move could send stocks lower, at least until earnings season
begins in earnest. |
