Friends
Stocks rallied today on hopes that trade tensions will lesson and on comments from Fed Chair Powell indicating that the Fed is prepared to act should trade wars cause economic damage. Stocks opened strong and added to their gains as the trading session wore on. Of course, the traders will question whether this is the meaningful beginning of something, or just a quick counter trend rally in a corrective phase (dead cat bounce).
For the day, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 512 points to close at 25,332. The S&P 500 was up 58 points to finish the day at 2,803. Gold was up $3 to trade at $1,330 per ounce, while oil was up $.28 to trade at $53.54 per barrel WTI.
As trade talks dominate the headlines, we’ll get a look at the updated employment situation this week with the ADP private payroll number tomorrow, and the non-farm payroll number on Friday. Remember, we had blowout numbers last month (263,000 new jobs), and estimates indicate that analysts expect things to have moderated somewhat in May (185,000 new jobs estimate for May). All in all, it was a good day for the bulls, but it will take more than one good trading session before any confidence will be reclaimed. Let’s see how the rest of the week plays out.
Have a nice evening everyone.
