US stocks eke out a gains in choppy post FOMC session

US equities managed to hold onto small gains despite a mid-session sell off, in a volatile session as traders continued to digest the FOMC decision. 3 of the 4 major indexes finished in the green, with the Nasdaq outperforming, up 1% while the Russell 2000 finished down for the day, dragged down by the continued poor performance in reginal bank stocks.

A choppy session in FX too, the USD finished slightly stronger against most its peers in a rollercoaster of a session, one exception was the Japanese Yen which did outperform as yield differentials tightened giving it support, this has been the main driver of the USDJPY since the Fed hiking cycle.

Gold again tested it’s major resistance at 2000$ USD an ounce before pulling back to settle at around 1990.. This is the 3^rd time in 12 months gold has tested this level and been rejected so is a pivotal level to watch for gold traders.

In Central bank news, the BoE as expected hiked 25bp and signalling that further tightening would be required, which is not surprising after the hot CPI figure on Wednesday, this saw a modest spike in GBPUSD but no real follow through.

The SNB also hiked, 50 bp in their case as expected and reiterated in their statement that further tightening could not be ruled out, this saw a decent move higher for the Franc, though like the Pound was quickly retraced

A raft of PMI figures are release later today, covering the Eurozone, UK and the US. Growth and recession concerns are still at the forefront of traders minds, so some volatility on these figures is a probability.