So, is it game on? Or at least back to moving higher? Stocks seem to think so, as the recent Trump Slump has turned into a steady climb upward this week. After traders were displeased with the lack of policy news from the Trump administration, this week saw them pouring more money into equities. The reason hasn’t been Trump, but the return to earnings season.
Investors focused this week on the sheer number of profit reports and forecasts from key economic bellwethers. The blitzkrieg of earnings season has typically brought good tidings and seemed to break the snap of lower revenue reports. However, guidance continues to remain cautiously optimistic.
That cautiously optimistic tone from corporations has been punctuated by the also cautiously optimistic tone of recently released economic data. Key data points in manufacturing, labor health and consumer spending have been strong. However, they’ve pulled back from the highs recently recorded since Trump was elected.
Nonetheless, traders didn’t seem to mind as they pushed stocks higher overall.
Check out last week’s Market Wrap here.
Monday
Coming off the weekend, stocks kicked off with a bang. The jump had nothing to do with anything here at home, but came courtesy of France. Centrist candidate Emmanuel Macron won the first round of France’s presidential election over National Front leader Marine Le Pen. That win was seen as positive for the EU, the euro and global equities. The pending French election and the potential for Frexit have weighed on shares since the summer.
