Market Roundup: Markets Respond to Trump Win

Economy/Stock Market

Stocks kicked off the week on a positive note ahead of the presidential election. Their climb continued on Tuesday ahead of election results. Crude oil prices slipped slightly after the Energy Information Administration boosted its forecasts for U.S. oil production. West Texas Intermediate crude dropped 0.07% to settle at $45.44 a barrel. Stocks ramped up Wednesday in post-election momentum, as Donald Trump won the presidential election. Financial and health care brands led the way up. In other releases, Energy Information Administration figures showed domestic crude oil supplies rose by 2.4 million barrels in the week ended November 4. Indices closed with mixed moves on Thursday, as the Dow and S&P 500 added points while the NASDAQ ended in red territory. Financial stocks posted gains, while Technology brands led the NASDAQ lower. Looking elsewhere, initial jobless claims decreased last week. Department of Labor data showed new claims fell by 11,000 to 254,000. Indices closed out the week mixed on Friday. The Dow and NASDAQ stepped up while the S&P 500 shed some points. Energy brands led decliners while Technology stocks rebounded from Thursday’s downswing. In a preliminary measure, the University of Michigan’s Consumer Sentiment index ticked up to 91.6 in early November, from 87.2 in October.

Market Roundup: Rocky Week for the Market Ends with Red Results

Economy/Stock Market

The indices kicked off a week of negative results closing just slightly down on Monday, as Energy stocks led decliners in choppy trading. In economic news, a reading of the Chicago PMI fell to 50.6 from 54.2 in September, showing a decrease in business activity in the Midwestern region. Activity was expected to increase to a reading of 54.3. However, consumer spending ticked up in September, increasing by 0.5%, while income rose by 0.3%. Analysts expected income to rise by 0.4%. Stocks continued to trade lower on Tuesday on election uncertainty after the release of conflicting poll data. The Institute for Supply Management Manufacturing Index increased at a faster rate than expected, coming in at 51.9 for October, up from 51.5 in September. Analysts had expected a slightly lesser uptick to 51.7. Stocks continued to slip midweek on a variety of economic news. The Federal Reserve concluded its two-day Federal Open Market Committee meeting, keeping the Federal Funds rate unchanged at 0.25% to 0.5% in an 8 to 2 decision. Stocks traded lower again on Thursday amid a dip in crude oil and other economic news. West Texas Intermediate crude continued to fall by 1.61% to settle at $44.61 a barrel. The results marked its fifth session decline and worst close in six weeks. Elsewhere, Department of Labor data showed new jobless claims increased by 7,000 to 265,000. Continuing claims, meanwhile, decreased by 14,000 to 2.026 million for the week ended October 22. U.S. factory orders climbed 0.3% in September up from 0.2% growth in August, beating analysts’ expectations of flat results for September. Indices closed the week firmly in red territory on Friday, as stocks dipped on the release of October employment numbers. Department of Labor data showed an addition of 161,000 jobs, which was slightly short of the 175,000 economists had forecast. However, August and September figures were upwardly revised by a combined 44,000. Additionally, the unemployment rate slipped to 4.9%, down from 5%.