What are the links between interest rates and the stock market? Essentially, interest is the cost one pays when he/she uses someone else’s money. However, when we talk of the stock market and the impact of the interest rates, the term interest refers to something else. This is the cost paid by the banks as a charge for borrowing money from federal reserves banks. Through this the federal banks controls inflation by controlling the amount of money available for circulation. In other countries, this is done by the central banks.

Stock price effects

Changes in federal funds’ rates indirectly affect the behavior of the businesses and consumers this in effect affect the stock market as the price fluctuations result in low values of the companies. Stocks therefore go down.

Investment effects

Declining market price, due to increased interest brings lowered expectations for future improvement in cash flows of the company and sock ownership becomes undesirable.

This entry was posted on Friday, August 14th, 2009 at 9:11 am and is filed under Financial planning, Interest Rates, Personal finance, Stock Markets. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.