After last week’s trade deal-induced gains, this week saw lower overall returns for the market. Despite the shortened week due to the Martin Luther King Holiday, several headwinds hit traders as they returned to work on Tuesday. Rising health risks from the spread of coronavirus to continued woes due to Brexit and domestic issues made traders sell off stocks. The domestic woes included the start of President Trump’s impeachment trial as well as the potential for more difficulties on the trade war front and the start of the Phase 2 deal between China and the U.S.
With a lack of economic data being presented, investors were forced to react to the negative headlines. There was no insight into the state of the economy during the last four trading days.
At least there was some positive earnings news presented during the shortened week. With earnings season moving forward, many of those firms reporting earnings have been able to beat analyst projections. Moreover, those reporting have been pretty bullish on the future prospects for the U.S. economy and continued growth throughout the year.
However, at the end of the day, the bad news managed to outweigh any positive spin because of earnings. With negatives too large to overcome, stocks managed to spend most of the shortened week trending lower.
Be sure to check out our previous Wrap here, when the Phase One deal was signed & stocks rallied.
