by Chris Becker
The wait is over! It’s been years in the making and its finally here – the new Star Wars….oh I mean the Fed has raised rates! Reaction? Pundits = OMG. Markets = meh. The US Federal Reserve announced in the wee hours of the morning Australian time that it will begin “normalising” rates with a huge hike from 0.25% to 0.5% – this was completely expected and almost completely priced in by most markets. Global stocks had already re-started their Santa Claus rally and this continued overnight with European stocks up slightly as US stocks gained over 1% across the board, with only small sell offs in bond markets. Oil was smashed again however, down 4% as the USD gained strength, while gold basically stood its ground.
Recapping Asia’s session yesterday where the Shanghai Composite had another scratch session, still going sideways yet bouncing off support at 3400 points. I’m still watching the former highs at 3670 points for signs of a confirmed breakout, but this remains unconvincing:
