Latest Federal Reserve minutes will be released at 2pm ET today. At the end of this month, the Federal Reserve will meet again and the momentous tapering of bond buying is expected to be finalized. After being as high as $85B of bond buying per month, this expected announcement would mark the end of Quantitative Easing 3 (QE3), which began in September 2012.

“With the expectation of the US bond buying program officially coming to a close at the end of the month, interest rate hikes are currently opposed, in the short run, by Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen,” said David Krein, Head of Research, Nasdaq Global Indexes.

INDEX MOVES THIS WEEK

• NASDAQ BIOTECHNOLOGY INDEX (NBI) is down 2.86% since Friday’s close. Year-to-date performance for the index is up 17% after being above 20% at the end of February, and down 5% by mid-April.
• PHLX OIL SERVICE SECTOR (OSX) is down 2.22% since Friday’s close. The price of oil is currently $87.64 per barrel, down $2 since last week.
• PHLX Gold/Silver Sector (XAU) is down 3.44% since Friday’s close. The price of gold is currently $1,207 per ounce, up $15 since last week.

INDEX TO WATCH

• The NASDAQ Technology Dividend Index (NQ96DIVUS) consists of 96 technology and telecommunications securities that pay a regular dividend. Over the last year, the index has produced an annual yield of 3.03%, exceeding the NASDAQ US Technology Index’s 1.57% figure.