08:10am   Here at home for most of the day so any trades I have will be reported below.

Market Update:

Traders are on high alert today ahead of the Federal Reserve’s interest rate decision in around 10-hours time with an expected .025% hike in the minimum lending rate, this is the amount that is already priced in but any higher will surprise investors. Markets are expected to be fairly muted  with low volumes ahead of the announcement as investors adjust positions ready for some selected  buying later today, the overnight Asian trading session reflected this by closing mostly lower with Toshiba coming out as the largest loser of the session (-12.3%).

Oil is once again in the news with further falls yesterday and U.S. WTI Crude briefly fell over 2% during Tuesday’s session before settling back to close around $48.42 last night. This fall was caused mainly by news from Saudi Arabia that their production is actually rising despite promises that they will toe the line with the rest of OPEC members with regard to cuts in output in an attempt to stem the falling value of crude. During the night, the price has recovered slightly as initial figures out of the U.S. show that there has been an unexpected draw on stocks in the past few days and WTI Crude is currently sititng up at $48.75.

Gold has formed a small support at $1195 as investor await the outcome of today’s U.S. rate decision, volumes have been lower than usual but we could see some action later as investors move out of this safe haven and into more lucrative instruments. The price is currently slightly over the significant $1200 level with short term resistance around the $1216 level.

Trading Diary:

09:55am   As I expected, the markets are fairly quiet with not much to see at the moment but I have just found a ‘short’ UTB price-reversal pattern on my S&P-500 chart, so I am in the position with a 12 pip stop loss.

11:50am   Just got back from a cycle ride and seen my Gold position has been stopped out at -12 pips.

12:35pm    Nothing else to see on my charts at the moment so off for some lunch.

14:10pm  Markets are either drifting sideways or quite volatile today as traders await the Fed’s rate decision later this evening so I am finishing my trading for the day – back here tomorrow.