The theme of this week could be summed up in one word: tension.
After starting off on a positive note and new record highs, the markets took a turn for the worse as issues with North Korea took center stage. After some saber rattling by North Korea’s Kim Jong-un and the reaction from President Trump and his administration, the markets were on high alert. With the threat of war growing, many investors saw the tension as a way to take money off the table. For the most part, stocks spent much of the week trending lower.
Despite this, data was actually pretty good. While there wasn’t much released, measures of productivity, labor and consumer-related metrics all came in somewhat bullish. This helped signal that the economy was doing all right.
Earnings also helped on that front. Companies have continued to report better-than-expected numbers. With guidance figures also coming in better than expected, earnings helped keep stocks from falling too low.
But at the end of the day, the tension with North Korea proved to be the primary driver for the market. And with that came lower asset prices.
Check out last week’s Market Wrap here.
