Equity market shows resilience

The U.S. equity markets were encouragingly resilient today. Confronting an unexpected interest rate hike in China, a drop in a consumer sentiment survey, and only some well meaning but toothless talk in the Eurozone concerning the financial plight of Greece, the market fell one percent at the start but rallied back during the day, at times almost erasing all losses, before closing with the S&P down one quarter percent and the Nasdaq up by the same amount.

According to most financial commentary the big issues of concern were somehow offset by a modest improvement in a retail sales number and some better than expected earnings at a couple of relatively small tech companies. One could guess that there were a few other reasons for the market's stubborn strength today. From here the fact that the U.S. is going into a three day weekend, one that is not shared globally, could have caused traders to lighten short positions and not bite their nails Sunday night wondering what the day off on Monday will bring. The biggest factor by far, at least the thought here, is that Blackrock Asset Management with its $3.3 trillion under management buoyed the market with its comment in the afternoon that they were overweight Greek bonds and that Greece was no Lehman. The Blackrock statement expressed the belief that the European leaders would stand behind the Union and defuse the concerns about Greece and several other member nations.

At a minimum Blackrock's statement made me feel better.