Dow and S&P Reach Record Highs Following Fed Policy Meeting

The Fed policy meeting, Alibaba IPO, and Scottish referendum have been the highlights of the trading week with the Dow and S&P setting closing at fresh record highs on Thursday. The Fed’s decision not to raise interest rates in the immediate future lifted the S&P 500 .SPX 0.49 percent higher to 2,011.36. The Dow also gained 14 points to close at 17,265.99 while the Nasdaq followed suit, gaining 31.24 points to 4,593.43. A rally by the U.S. equity markets for three consecutive sessions increased the demand for risk assets like stocks as investor tensions eased following the Fed’s decision to postpone any interest hike. The Dow is currently up 2 percent for the week on Friday while the S&P is up 1.6 percent, and Nasdaq 0.9 percent. Each index is on track to post their sixth consecutive weekly gains out of seven.
Alibaba Captures Investor Attention

Alibaba’s (BABA.N) strong pricing at $68 a share and Scotland’s decision to remain with the United Kingdom had U.S. stocks open higher on Friday. Some of the major gainers on Thursday the manufacturer of powered surgical devices Pro-Dex (NASDAQ: PDEX). The company’s shares were up 36.82% to $3.01 following a Q4 EPS of $0.01 on revenue of $3.20 million. Shares of the American provider of travel and expense management services Concur Technologies (NASDAQ: CNQR) rose sharply by 18.14% to $127.35 after the company revealed its intention to acquire SAP America, a subsidiary of SAP (NYSE: SAP) for $129 per share totaling $8.3 billion. Chinese ecommerce giant Alibaba Group Holding (BABA.N) increased investor appetite, pricing its IPO at $68 a share, making it the largest IPO ever worth $167.6 billion. Several large U.S. institutions have placed orders worth $1 billion in shares of the 320 million shares being sold by Alibaba.
Pound Loses Steam Post Scotland Vote

The sharp rise in the British pound following Scotland’s vote in favor of remaining with the UK, was short lived. The rally lasted not more than two hours on Friday as the realization of political factors weighing in on the pound had investors turn cautious. The Sterling which touched a high of $1.6525 beat a swift retreat against the U.S. dollar and was last trading at $1.6337. Trading is expected to remain volatile for some time. However, the pound was up 0.1% against the euro to €1.2735. The greenback gained ground against the euro with the EUR/USD pair easing to $1.2859.
Currency

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