Stocks Going Nowhere While Gold Rallies

Despite news out of Japan of a delay in the tax hike and snap votes, along with further jawboning of continued monetary policy by the ECB, the U.S. equity markets have remained eerily quiet over the past five trading sessions.

The table below highlights the lack of volatility, with just a seven basis point move (0.07 percent) being the largest change over the past five trading sessions.

With earnings season nearing an end, as well as Ebola, ISIS and Ukraine no longer roiling markets, it will be interesting to see what the next catalysts might be for stocks to break out of their slumber. Gold, meanwhile, has had its best stretch in nearly two years, rallying from 1145 to nearly 1200 on the December gold futures contract.