Stocks tick lower as economic data continues to impress
Stocks are mostly lower Thursday morning, after hitting record highs on Wednesday. Better-than-expected economic data may have an increasing number of traders about the Federal Reserve raising interest rates more quickly than previously expected.
West Texas Intermediate crude is trading at $53.40. At present, the S&P 500 is down .11%, the DJIA is down 0.01%, and the NASDAQ is down .03%.
Here are your Thursday-morning market metrics. Industries doing well today include communications equipment, equity REITs, and containers and packaging. Industries showing weakness include food products, personal prducts, and air freight and logistics. The VIX is up .35 to 112.32 after closing on Tuesday at 11.97. The most heavily traded options this morning are for the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY), with 10,025 February 24-expiring 232 calls on the board. The total put/call ratio as of 10:00 AM was 0.58. The advancers/decliners ratio for the NYSE is 1,761/1,248, and for the NASDAQ, 1,829/1,021.