Dovish Fed Feeds Optimism

Monday, stocks closed little changed in Europe but fell 1.5% in Asia and 0.5% in the U.S. on low volume. Tuesday, stocks fell 0.3% in Asia and 0.5% in Europe. In the U.S. they closed little changed on low volume. The VXO ticked up 5% to close at 13.63. IBM closed just below the 140 mark as Red Hat officially became part of the company.

Wednesday, stocks in Asia closed little changed, fell slightly in Europe, and gained 0.3% in the U.S. on light volume. The VXO fell 7% to close at 12.59. IBM closed back above the 140 mark while the NASDAQ logged another record closing high. The big news was a dovish bias by Powell in congressional testimony. FOMC minutes echoed that sentiment. Precious metals and their miners gained 2%.

Thursday, stocks in Asia fell 0.9%, closed little changed in Europe, and gained slightly in the U.S. on light volume. The 10-Year U.S. Treasury bond rate gained 3% to close at 2.12. The Dow logged a record close above the 27,000 mark.

Friday, stocks in Asia and Europe closed nearly unchanged. In the U.S. stocks gained 0.3% on low volume. Major indices set new closing highs with the S&P 500 Index closing above the 3000 benchmark.

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