The Dow and the S&P 500 have bounced back from session lows after the question and answer session with Fed Chair Janet Yellen concluded and the market digested her comments. Yellen responded with a roundabout "yes" when asked if bond purchasing will still end in the fall. She noted that as long as the Fed continues to believe that inflation will move back towards the 2% target, and economic activity improves, the tapering will continue.
In the meantime, this session is all about a tug of war between large and small companies - case and point the major decline in the NASDAQ today. Can the large blue chip names inspire the tiny ones on the NASDAQ to find bottoms and perhaps reverse? The last hour of trading is going to be quite eventful. I don't have confidence the magnetic pull of selling won't impact all the indices. With Yellen's testimony out of the way, the market lacks a hook or catalyst.
Interestingly, the street yawned at higher leading economic indicators released today, which used to be one of Alan Greenspan's favorite monthly data reads. The consumer credit numbers will be released at 3:00PM today, but this data shouldn't make a huge splash.
