After the last few months, traders sure needed the break this week. Although, once the Labor Day holiday was over, it was right back to the grind – including heightened volatility. The culprit, once again, for those market moves continues to be the ongoing trade war between the U.S. and China. Just as we’ve seen in previous weeks, the last trading sessions were marked by news on the trade front. News about the overall global economic situation also contributed heavily to the week’s wild swings.
So did data. At the start of a new month, traders were treated to a plethora of economic metrics in a short amount of time. Here again, the picture was varied – with key measurements of manufacturing health, consumer behavior and labor activity all coming in mixed. This caused traders to have a hard time understanding the true economic picture.
Earnings didn’t help either. With the shortened trading week, many firms did not report their quarterly figures this week. However, several bellwethers reported updated guidance figures, and many of those numbers were lower than expected.
All in all, the shortened trading week continued the pattern of big market swings. This time with news mostly moving the markets higher.
Be sure to check out our previous Wrap here, where positive news about China and trade helped spur the market’s higher.
