Indices ended trading with gains on Monday with both the Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 index closing at new records. Indices closed in the green zone again on Tuesday with advances made in the Telecommunications, Financials, and Technology sectors. The Dow and S&P 500 closed at record levels on Wednesday on a variety of economic news. The Federal Open Market Committee announced it will begin rolling off its $4.5 trillion balance sheet in October. The Fed will use caps, initially set at $6 billion per month, and will increase by $6 billion at three-month intervals over 12 months until it reaches $30 billion. Furthermore, despite strengthening in the labor market and modest economic growth, the FOMC decided to maintain the target range for the federal funds rate at 1.00%-1.25%. In housing news, existing-home sales decreased in August, as sales slipped 1.7% from July levels. Sales last month were still 0.2% above totals from August 2016. The indices took a turn and closed in the red zone on Thursday, as Technology stocks led the downswing. Additionally, the Department of Labor showed that first-time claims fell by 23,000 from the previous week’s revised level to 259,000, versus an expected increase to 300,000. The markets were mixed on Friday with the Dow shedding points while the S&P 500 and NASDAQ posted marginal gains. Crude oil ticked up just slightly to close at $50.66 a barrel following news of a dip in U.S. drilling. Weekly numbers from Baker Hughes showed oil rig totals fell by five to 744.
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