Highlights
Equities overcame a soft start to end stronger Thursday. Risk appetite was hurt in the morning by reports that Russia had struck Ukraine with a new kind of ballistic missile but the equity market reaction proved limited even as oil prices continued to rally on the news. News later that Matt Gaetz had withdrawn from consideration to be Attorney General was a positive for risk appetite as investors evidently prefer more qualified cabinet officials. President-elect Trump's choice of Treasury secretary is expected to matter more to financial markets.
The Dow Jones industrials rose 1.1 percent, the S&P 500 gained 0.5 percent, and the Nasdaq was flat. US Treasury yields and oil prices rose while the dollar was mixed. Stocks associated with the Trump trade, including small caps, banks and cyclicals, outperformed and the broad market had a good day.
Economic reports came in mixed with jobless claims lower than expected while the Philadelphia Fed manufacturing report was much weaker than predicted. The bond market reacted bearishly to the jobless claims figure and later to better than expected existing home sales.
Early reaction to Nvidia's quarterly results was negative but as investors digested the results, the technology bellwether recovered. Other Magnificent Seven shares were mostly weaker. Alphabet weighed heavily on communications services as the market reckons with Google's antitrust problems. On the positive side, Deere's upbeat quarter lifted industrials. Other best performing sectors included energy, financials, consumer staples and real estate.
Lagging with communications services were consumer discretionary as Amazon had a bad day and Tesla slipped.
The Dow Jones industrials rose 1.1 percent, the S&P 500 gained 0.5 percent, and the Nasdaq was flat. US Treasury yields and oil prices rose while the dollar was mixed. Stocks associated with the Trump trade, including small caps, banks and cyclicals, outperformed and the broad market had a good day.
Economic reports came in mixed with jobless claims lower than expected while the Philadelphia Fed manufacturing report was much weaker than predicted. The bond market reacted bearishly to the jobless claims figure and later to better than expected existing home sales.
Early reaction to Nvidia's quarterly results was negative but as investors digested the results, the technology bellwether recovered. Other Magnificent Seven shares were mostly weaker. Alphabet weighed heavily on communications services as the market reckons with Google's antitrust problems. On the positive side, Deere's upbeat quarter lifted industrials. Other best performing sectors included energy, financials, consumer staples and real estate.
Lagging with communications services were consumer discretionary as Amazon had a bad day and Tesla slipped.
Definition
Market Reflections track market reaction to the trading day's major events. Economic data, policymaker speeches, and company news are featured in this report as well as key indexes and financial instruments.
Description
Understanding why markets respond as they do is fundamental for an investor. Market Reflections help explain how the day's events, news, and data impact the outlook for the economy and for market prices.
