The markets are sharply lower today ahead of the Federal Reserve releasing their policy statement at 2:15pm ET. The markets are seeing quite a bit of weakness ahead of this announcement because of a spike sharply higher in the dollar. The dollar ETF PowerShares DB US Dollar Index Bullish (NYSE:UUP) is higher by .20 (0.85%). For the dollar, this is a strong move. A stronger dollar puts pressure on commodities which in turn puts pressure on the markets.
Productivity numbers were released this morning and showed the worst levels in almost 3 years. This also put some extra pressure on the markets. At this point in the day, the markets are down but floating into the Federal Reserve announcement at 2:15pm ET. Stocks are mostly negative with commodity stocks leading the drop. The SPDR S&P 500 ETF (NYSE:SPY) are lower by just under 1%.
Gareth Soloway
Chief Market Strategist
www.InTheMoneyStocks.com
