Dow Jones Industrial Average News, 6/15/16 - In one of the most anti-climatic days for the markets in months, the U.S. Federal Reserve announced it would not hike interest rates in June.
The markets closed only slightly lower, despite ongoing concerns about geopolitical upheaval in Europe. While everyone was turning to Fed Chair Janet Yellen's statement after the conclusion the FOMC conference, a number of important stories slipped under the radar.
First up, check out the results for the Dow Jones, S&P 500, and Nasdaq:
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Dow Jones: 17,640.17; -34.65; -0.20%
S&P 500: 2,071.50; -3.82; -0.18%
Nasdaq: 4,834.93; -8.62; -0.18%
Now, here's the top stock market news today...
DJIA Today: No Rate Hike, Financials Stocks Hold Steady, Oil Slides Again
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up roughly 60 points in the final minutes of trading, but slumped quickly into the red at the close of the trading session. A swift, brutal sell-off sent energy and healthcare stocks into the red, while financials barely clung to small gains.
The Fed held off on raising interest rates this month as markets and the U.S. economy anticipate the worst from the upcoming vote by citizens in the United Kingdom on whether to start the process of a "Brexit." According to a statement released by the Fed Open Market Committee, fewer members of the central bank now anticipate more than one interest rate hike in 2016. Eleven of the 17 members are still calling for more hikes, but the decrease by five members shows the diminishing expectations by members of the central bank on the global economy and the resilience of the markets at home.
But what investors are missing about today's statement is completely obvious. Money Morning Global Credit Strategist Michael Lewitt explains that Janet Yellen's insistence on rate hikes in the future is going to have serious consequences for the economy and the markets.
Gold prices are back on the rise and fast approaching $1,300 per ounce, while silver continues to rise. Investors are flying to safety as concerns about the Brexit rattle confidence in the global markets. Can the climb continue? Our experts say that gold could hit this shocking level due to ongoing concerns about the Brexit.
Oil prices again slipped for the fifth straight session as the Brexit weighs on global demand expectations. WTI crude prices fell another 1.2%, while Brent crude prices slipped 1.8%.
Now, let's look at the day's biggest stock movers and two must-own financial services stocks...
Top Stock Market News Today
- It wasn't CEO Mark Zuckerberg's broken arm that attracted the most buzz today, but the changes that could be coming to Facebook Inc. (Nasdaq: FB) within the next five years. According to Nicola Mendelsohn, vice president for Facebook in the EMEA region, your Facebook feed could be "all video" in the future. The company has said that daily views of video have increased from 1 billion to 8 billion in the last year. That type of innovation and the ongoing rise of its user base are reasons why investors should be excited. Here's another reason that you might be overlooking FB stock and why you should own it.
- Shares of Twitter Inc. (NYSE: TWTR) pushed up 4.2% after the microblogging giant announced a $70 million investment in SoundCloud, according to Re/Code. The firm will aim to help the German streaming giant boost subscriptions to its new paid music service. SoundCloud was once a potential acquisition target for Twitter back in 2014, but the deal fell apart. The deal values SoundCloud at roughly $700 million.
- Finally, Wells Fargo Co. (NYSE: WFC) and JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) were down marginally on the day. Meanwhile, shares of Bank of America Corp. (NYSE: BAC) were up more than 0.6% after the financial giant announced plans to cut roughly 8,000 positions from its consumer division. The rise of digital banking technology continues to fuel a displacement of banking staff and teller positions. But the real story in the financial sector today is the ongoing plans for Saudi Aramco to issue an IPO. The deal would make the Saudi state-run company the largest public company by an extremely wide margin. And these two banks are poised to make a fortune on this deal.
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About the Author
Garrett Baldwin is a globally recognized research economist, financial writer, consultant, and political risk analyst with decades of trading experience and degrees in economics, cybersecurity, and business from Johns Hopkins, Purdue, Indiana University, and Northwestern.