Stocks turned bullish early in the week, and after the record high JOLTS job openings indicated accelerated Q2 GDP growth, the bullish momentum continued as investors turned optimistic that a rate hike in June may not cause much mayhem after all.
It’s a great time to be seeking work in the U.S. as the labor department said there are more available jobs in the country than people who are actively looking for jobs. However, the labor participation rate remained pretty low over the last few years and there is no sign of improvement in this area.
While not much happened in terms of corporate earnings this week, news about U.S. exports gaining grounds in April turned out to provide another round of bullish stimulus to traders and the Dow jumped over 25,000 once again.
In the end, there was plenty of good economic news and the stock markets had an upbeat week, but with the unemployment rate below the natural rate, this week’s record-high job openings figure will certainly convince the Fed to hike rates sooner than expected. So, there is likely no end to the sideways markets in coming weeks.
Be sure to check out our previous week’s edition here, in which a fresh set of tariff on key U.S. allies tarnished bullish prospects.
