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The stock market’s Trump honeymoon is turning sour

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Brandon Bell/Getty Images; iStock; Rebecca Zisser/B
  • More than half of the stock market’s rally has been wiped out after Trump’s election.

  • The turning point came on Thursday, when Fed Chair Powell said the central bank would take its time lowering interest rates.

  • This, combined with a series of strong economic data, has investors questioning whether a cut in December is necessary.

So, half of the stock market’s euphoric gains after Trump’s election are gone.

Major US indexes saw a sharp sell-off on Friday, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq ahead, as investors came to terms with the reality that they may not get an interest rate cut in December as previously expected.

The turning point came on Thursday, when Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said he and the central bank were in agreement Don’t rush to lower interest ratesThis is in light of the positive signals sent by the economy.

Stocks fell in afternoon trading, and this pressure continued until Friday. the Standard & Poor’s 500 Interest rates fell by as much as 1.6%, and have now lost more than half of their steep post-election gain of 4%. the Nasdaq Composite It fell 2.7% at its lowest levels during the day.

The S&P 500 fell 2.2% this week, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 1.2% and the Nasdaq fell 3.2%.

These losses came as the odds of an interest rate cut declined by 25 basis points in December. Investors now put a 58% chance of that happening at the next meeting, down from about 80% before Powell’s speech, according to CME FedWatch tool.

The central bank chief’s comments come amid a promising series of US economic data. Retail sales data on Friday showed signs of strength, and on Thursday, Unemployment claims numbers It came into the light surprisingly well.

Stock investors have been grappling with what Trump will ultimately mean for the market now that the dust has settled on the rush to buy everything. Concerns have been raised about whether Trump’s protectionist trade policies will lead to higher inflation, which could necessitate eventual interest rate hikes.

So far, investors have seemed content to focus on Trump’s plan to cut taxes and deregulate. But now it seems Jerome Powell has given them something else to think about and worry about.

Here is where US indices stand at the closing bell at 4pm on Friday:

Here’s what else happens:

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