“Same as it ever was” could have been the mantra this week on Wall Street. Overall, the major averages continued to be volatile as investors digested the week’s news. In this case, two old points came back and, perhaps, reached a conclusion.
This included additional stimulus from the Federal government. After what seems like months of negotiations, the critical $1 trillion infrastructure was finally passed by Congress and sent to President Biden’s desk. Traders cheered the passage of the bill early on.
However, economic data this week – chiefly inflationary metrics – continued to put pressure on stocks throughout the week, as did other sources of economic data. Slight spikes in unemployment and lower consumer, housing and manufacturing data points put investors on pause.
Nonetheless, the week’s corporate actions seemed to boost spirits. Several high-profile IPOs launched, earnings remained positive and several troubled firms announced initiatives to regain their footing.
All in all, the week was a volatile one with stocks having slight gains on the week.
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