Mixed Day For Stocks; Saudi Attack Impact Sets In With Fed Meeting Expectations

25-Sep-2019 | Facts and Factors

On Thursday the United States stocks were a mixed bag when the opening bell rang. The biggest decline was visible in the Dow Jones Industrial average which was down by 0.3%. There was little change in the NASDAQ and S&P 500. Among the gainers on Monday were Energy companies as the drone attacks on the biggest oil processing plant in Saudi Arabia had caused the soaring of prices of crude by over 14%. The West Texas Intermediate was down at $62.09 per barrel which is 1.29% down.

The stocks of the Airline saw a recovery after the higher prices of energy on Monday were a headwind. Both the United Airlines and American airlines had registered gains in the early trading. The shares of General Motors after slumping 4.3% in the last session witnessed further selling. The slump was as a result of over 49000 members from United Auto Workers went on a strike. There was a revival witnessed in the manufacturing production in United States in august as it grew at a pace of 0.6 percent as per the data from Federal Reserve. This was more than the July growth rate of 0.4 % 

The two day meeting of the Federal Reserve will be the headline event of the week as the meeting which begins on Tuesday will have a discussion on the interest rates. There is an expectation of investors of a cut in the benchmark rate of interest by the Central Bank in the range of 0.25% to about 1.75% or 2%. This would be the second cut of this kind as the Fed is trying to take protective action amidst the US-China trade war.