Stocks End Marginally Lower as Investors Remain Cautious ahead of Central Banks’ Meetings
Stocks struggled for direction in trading today before finishing marginally lower as investors remained on the sideline ahead of key central banks’ meetings later this week.
The Dow Jones ended the day 0.02% lower at 13,073.01, the S&P 500 ended the day 0.05% lower at 1,385.30, and the Nasdaq ended the day 0.41% lower at 2,945.84.
Industrials were the worst performers in trading today, ending the day 0.99% lower. Consumer Cyclical sector also fell sharply in trading today, ending the day 0.43% lower. Healthcare sector ended the day 0.50% lower. Utilities were the best performers in the S&P 500 today, ending the day 0.41% higher. Energy sector ended the day 0.13% higher, while Basic Materials sector ended the day 0.08% higher.
Among the major gainers and losers in trading today were Shaw Group Inc. (NYSE: SHAW), which ended the day 55.45% higher at $41.49, Chicago Bridge & Iron Company (NYSE: CBI), which ended the day 14.15% lower at $34.94, and SUPERVALU Inc. (NYSE: SVU), which ended the day 12.56% higher at $2.24.
Stocks fluctuated between gains and losses throughout the day as investors remained cautious ahead of central banks’ meeting. On Tuesday, the Federal Reserve will start its two-day monetary policy meeting. The Fed will release its policy statement on Wednesday. Investors are hoping that the central bank will hint at further monetary easing to boost economic growth when it releases its statement on Wednesday.
The European Central Bank (ECB) and Bank of England are scheduled to hold to their monetary policy meeting on Thursday.
ECB President, last week, pledged that the central bank will do whatever it takes to protect the euro zone. Draghi’s comments have raised hopes that the ECB will implement fresh measures to stem the euro zone debt crisis. Hopes of action from the ECB pushed European markets higher for a third day in a row, with the EURO STOXX 50 Index finishing 1.70% higher.
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Post Written By: Ed Liston
Ed Liston is a senior contributing editor at TheStockMarketWatch.com. An active market watcher and investor, Ed guides an independent team of experienced analysts and writes for multiple stock trader publications. He is widely quoted in various financial publications on the Internet. When Ed is not writing about stocks, investing in stocks, talking about stocks, or otherwise doing something stock related, he likes to go sailing and fishing in his yacht.
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