Hi Everyone,
The stock market finished higher for the second day in a row on Friday, as investors shrugged off the huge retail sales miss and the weak industrial production data, with the Nasdaq spearheading the rally yet again. The Dow was up 60, or 0.3%, to 23,685, the Nasdaq gained 71, or 0.8%, to 9,015, while the S&P 500 rose by 11 or 0.4%, to 2,864. Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 3-to-2 ratio on the NYSE, where volume was moderately heavy.
Traders said that while the large-cap benchmarks finished the week in the red, they bounced from key technical levels on Thursday, and Friday’s session was another confidence boost for bulls. As one trader explained, “Small-caps and tech stocks were relatively strong on Friday, which is usually a hallmark of a clearly bullish session, but cyclical issues and financials, in particular, remained very weak, confirming the high level of economic uncertainty.”
The rout in mega-cap banks made headlines this week, and even though the financial sector bounced back strongly in the latter half of the week, bank stocks remain among the weakest issues on Wall Street, which does not bode well for the broader market. The rising tension between the U.S. and China added to the pressure on risk assets, as the Trump administration openly attacked the Asian giant in several sensitive areas. Considering all of the negative headlines, stocks held up relatively well. Volatility will likely remain high, while the successful global reopening push continues. Even though the global COVID-situation is improving at a very slow rate, there is still no sign of major secondary outbreaks in Asia and Europe, which makes a quick economic recovery more likely.
As always, have a great evening and stay tuned!!!
Joe
