The market was not very active at the FOMC minutes but certainly gained ground off its pre-minutes lows to end very fractionally green (S&P small up, Dow down, NASDAQ up, mainly thanks to AAPL’s 2% gain – it’s 7th in only 3 month).
After FOMC the QE-on trade was very clear – Treasury yields tumbled, stocks popped, USD weakened, and Gold soared.
These were vital moves relative to recent ranges: Gold broke above its 200DMA – back to early May highs; Treasury yields dropped 10bps – biggest plunge in rates since start of June (as it bounces off its 200DMA).
Furthermore, NASDAQ is the only major US index in the green (+0.1%), while the Dow is down by 0.78%. VIX ended above 15% – very fractionally green – as credit (spreads) underperformed – not participating in the last 45 minute ramp in stocks.
The QE-on correlation regime might be dominating that divergence and while volume was better than last week, it was mainly concentrated around the FOMC minutes.
