With trading volumes already starting to slip–trading in Standard & Poor’s 500 stocks was running about 25% below its average for this time of day at noon today–traders and investors are locking in some gains and seeking safety for the week before Christmas.
As of 1 p.m. New York time gold was up for the day and the dollar was down. The dollar had declined 1% against the yen. The Bloomberg dollar spot index was flat for the session.[/twitter]
Emerging market stocks slipped 0.5%, continuing a string of daily losses.
In the oil markets Brent crude was up slightly and West Texas Intermediate was lower.
Of course, news that the Russian ambassador to Turkey, Andrey Karlov, was shot and killed at art exhibit in Ankara, by a man yelling about Aleppo hasn’t led anyone to want to take on extra risk today.
