Monday, stocks rose 0.6% in Asia and closed flat in Europe despite Greece’s refusal to budge on their conditions. Markets were closed in the U.S. for Presidents’ Day. Tuesday, stocks in Asia and the U.S. moved little and rose slightly in Europe. Volume was low moderate. The VXO rose 5% to close at 15.27, gold miners dropped 3%, and the 10-Year U.S. Treasury Bond Yield shot up 6% to close at 2.15%. The small gain was sufficient to push the S&P 500 Index above it’s all-time-record closing high and move the Dow Jones Industrial Average above 18,000 again. What’s wrong with this picture?
Wednesday, stocks rose in Asia 0.6% and in Europe 0.7%. In the U.S., they closed nearly unchanged on low volume while precious metals miners gained 2%. The FOMC minutes did little to either encourage or discourage the stock markets. Thursday, stocks in Asia rose 0.5%, in Europe rose 0.3%, and in the U.S. fell slightly on low volume. Precious metals miners lost 2% led lower by an 8% plunge by Goldcorp.
Friday, stocks in Asia closed virtually unchanged while in Europe they rose 0.3%, ad in the U.S. they charged ahead 0.6% on low volume considering the options expiration day. S&P 500 Index and Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at new all-time record highs as the EU and Greece released a “kick the can” statement. The VXO fell 6.5% in response to close at 14.05.