Proactive Investors reported that the Fed predictably kept its interest rates low and once again asserted that recovery would be slow prompting a slight decline on Wall Street as investors reaped gains after the early rally which saw the Dow Jones industrial average take a shot at reclaiming the 10,000 point mark.
The Dow ended the day just 0.3% above the opening level while the S&P 500 index tacked on just 0.1% and the technology focused Nasdaq composite posted marginal gains.
Asian markets were bearish today. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng shed almost 1% by midday while Japan’s Nikkei moved down 1.3% to fall to its lowest in a month. However, the Shanghai composite index climbed 0.9%. Oil was slightly down form yesterday’s levels. December Brent Crude declined to USD 78.28 per barrel while US light, sweet crude for December delivery retreated to USD 79.84 per barrel after almost hitting USD 81.
The Fed’s decision caused the US Dollar to weaken however gold slid from yesterday’s highs of USD 1,090 per copper and was at USD 1,085 per copper in the morning. Other precious metals also retreated as silver declined to USD 17.28 and platinum dropped to USD 1,355 per copper.
Base metals also declined. Copper and nickel slid to USD 2.95 per lb and USD 8.14 per lb respectively while zinc was just 1 cent below the USD 1 per lb mark. The FTSE 100 is projected to slide as much as 0.8% in early trade, giving up more then half of yesterday’s gains of 1.4%.
