Stocks were lower on Monday. Then it was up, up, and away!
After 4 straight winning days, stocks finished the week with strong gains.
It was the 4th winning week in a row, and the longest weekly win-streak since August.
With last week’s gains, the S&P is now up 6.5% for the year. This is the best start for the S&P since 1987.
Here’s what traders were focusing on:
- A possible U.S.-China Trade Deal – Although there was conflicting trade news on Thursday, on Friday the news was pretty clear. A Bloomberg report said that in recent trade talks, China offered a plan to boost U.S. imports to eliminate the U.S trade imbalance by 2024.
- Bank Earnings – There were a lot of concerns heading into earnings season. But many companies have beat expectations or reported numbers that weren’t as bad as expected. American Express (AXP) was one of the last of the financials to report last week. Although they reported numbers that were slightly worse than expected, the stock managed to end the day higher by 1.0%.
- Government Shutdown – The government shutdown is the longest ever. In the past, government shutdowns haven’t had a big impact on the market. And although the shutdown is having an effect on hundreds of thousands of people, traders don’t seem too worried (yet). Since the shutdown began stocks are up 8.0%.
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Here’s where the major indices ended the week:
- The S&P finished with a 2.9% gain. Up 74 points, the S&P ended at 2,671.
- The DOW ended higher by 3.0%. Adding 710 points, the DOW closed at 24,706.
- The NASDAQ was up 2.7%. With a 186 point gain, the NASDAQ finished at 7,157.
- Bitcoin finished lower by 1.0%. Down $35, Bitcoin ended at $3,565.
Crude Oil (CL) finished higher for the 3rd week straight. Up 4.1%, CL ended at $54.07 a barrel.
Consumer Sentiment came in at 90.7. The reading was much lower than the 96.7 forecast, and the lowest reading since President Trump was elected.
Netflix (NFLX) jumped last week after announcing a subscription increase. But on Friday, the stock lost 4.0% after reporting worse than expected earnings.
Tesla (TSLA) was hit hard on Friday. The stock suffered a 13.0% loss after announcing a 7% cut to its workforce. With the cut, Elon Musk said that he sees a “very difficult” road ahead.
U.S. markets are closed on Monday in observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
Here is the economic calendar for the week:
Real Time Economic Calendar provided by Investing.com.
Source: RockwellTrading by Markus Heitkoetter | Original Link