The more things change, the more they stay the same. For investors, that means a return to weekly swings in the market. Stocks continue to be pushed and pulled by political events. This week continued that trend as traders reacted to every move made by the Trump Administration.
The political scene and whether Trump can deliver on his promises have dominated the conversation for investors over the last few weeks, ebbing between the “Trump Bump” and the “Trump Slump.”
While politics continue to dominate, investors had a new focus this week: corporate earnings. The so-called earnings season is finally here, and so far, results have been mixed. While it’s too early to tell how the bulk of stocks will do, the pattern of profits plus weaker guidance/revenues has continued to persist.
That pattern could throw a major wrench in the market’s cogs as the week’s data was less than ideal. Many economic metrics have now started to show less-than-desirable increases. This only added to the week’s ups and downs.
All in all, the week continued the second quarter’s streak of sideways movements.
Check out last week’s Market Wrap here.
Monday
Stocks came off the weekend with a big bang. After Friday’s better-than-expected earnings from some the largest financial institutions, optimism about earnings was at an all-time high. The lack of geopolitical events over the weekend and an easing of tensions in the Middle East and Asia helped to boost the confidence of investors. After the previous few days’ worth of declines, traders stepped in and bought stocks on Monday, pushing stocks to their biggest daily gains since the beginning of March.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 183.67 points, to close at 20,636.92. The S&P 500 advanced 20.06 points, while the NASDAQ Composite climbed 51.64 points.
