Investors breathed a sigh of relief after Hurricane Irma made landfall during the weekend, but its impacts were not as severe as meteorologists were expecting. Markets promptly turned bullish on Monday, and the Dow jumped over 250 points, crossing the psychological level around 22,000 once again.
The bullishness was further fueled by the increasing job openings figure on Tuesday as the Labor Department’s Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) report came out bearing good news, with a 0.9% increase. While an active labor market signaled strength, it also worried stakeholders that the Fed may use it to continue their planned unwinding of the balance sheet, despite a lack of inflationary pressure in the economy.
Donald Trump’s interest in governing as an independent became more apparent this week as he agreed to work with top Democrats on a deal to save DACA recipients from deportation on Thursday. Pundits on the airwaves certainly loved the idea that working with Democrats will give the president more leverage over the far-right elements of his own party if he takes a more centrist approach to tax reform.
After facing two consecutive hurricanes, Wall Street appeared to have concluded that while the storms caused profound humanitarian disasters in the affected areas, they won’t likely have any sustained impact or derail the economy.
Be sure to check out our previous week’s edition here, in which markets were preparing for the impact of Hurricane Irma.
