With 2018 ending in a big thud with major losses, investors were looking forward to beginning the new year off on a good foot. Unfortunately, the first week of the new month and year hasn’t lived up to expectations just yet. So far, the new year is shaping up to be a repeat of the last one on a few fronts.
With only a few trading days so far into 2019, trade war fears have once again bubbled to the surface. Both official statements by the Trump Administration expressing tougher sanctions on China and several major tech bellwethers reporting lower overseas sales managed to spur traders to fear that the world’s economy is slowing down. This caused equities, over the shortened trading week, to continue their down trend.
The limited economic data released this week didn’t help equities much either. Measures of manufacturing and labor showed slight declines versus previous and estimated metrics. With basically no earnings reports being released, investors could only focus on trade fears.
And with that, volatility reigned supreme and stocks ended the week in a rocky position.
Be sure to check out our previous Wrap here, in which the situation was very similar.
