STOCKS SNOOZE: Here's what you need to know
The Dow and the Nasdaq closed in the green, while the S&P trickled into the red at the end of the day.
First up, the scoreboard:
- Dow: 20,083.58, +31.16, (+0.16%)
- S&P 500: 2,292.43, -0.25, (-0.01%)
- Nasdaq: 5,672.71, +9.14, (+0.16%)
- US 10-year yield: 2.391%, -0.022
- WTI Crude oil: $52.19, -0.82, (-1.55%)
1. The GOP is changing its tune on the repeal of Obamacare. Recently, there seems to have been a tonal shift in the way GOP lawmakers are addressing their approach to the law. Instead of leaning on the "repeal and replace" terminology, Republicans have begun to say they are "repairing" the ACA, a softening in their rhetoric.
2. The dollar picked up speed after a Fed official said March is "on the table." The US dollar index was up by as much as 0.8% in early morning trade, but finished the day up about 0.4% at 100.28. The index's appreciation followed Monday evening comments from Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia President Patrick Harker, who told reporters that the Federal Reserve's meeting in March is a live option for a rate hike.
3. The Minneapolis Fed's Neel Kashkari took to Medium to discuss his reasoning for keeping rates on hold. His argument was fairly straight forward: Why tighten monetary conditions when inflation remains below the Fed's target, inflation expectations are subdued, and the job market is probably still not operating at its full potential despite the low jobless rate?
4. Job opening ticked down slightly. Job openings totaled 5.501 million in December, according to the latest JOLTS report, slightly below the prior month's reading of 5.505 million, and below economists' estimates of 5.580 million.
5. GM sank despite a fourth-quarter earnings beat. General Motors was down by about 4.6% after the automaker said fourth-quarter net income fell to $1.19 a share, factoring out one-time items, in part because of $500 million in foreign-exchange losses, and the company forecast that 2017 profits would be flat to slightly up from 2016.
6. Twitter rallied after announcing a crackdown on abusive content. Twitter climbed by over 2.6% after announcing initiatives including hiding abusive tweets, preventing banned users from creating new accounts, and introducing a new "safe search" function.
7. Bitcoin keeps zooming higher. While the catalyst for Tuesday's gain is difficult to decipher, the advance comes after data released by the People's Bank of China showed China's foreign currency reserves in January fell below $3 trillion for the first time in nearly six years.
ADDITIONALLY:
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