The second quarter of the year can be called a lot of things, but boring isn't one of them. The potential for a trade war between the United States and China heated up in April as China responded to the threat of U.S. tariffs on Chinese imports by warning of the same magnitude of tariffs on American exports.
Trading during the summer months is customarily slow, and the summer of 2017 proved no different. July kicked off the third quarter with equity markets enjoying noteworthy gains over their June closing values. Both the Dow (2.54%) and S&P 500 (1.93%) posted significant gains, as did the Global Dow (3.13%).
Last week saw domestic and global conflicts heighten investors' concerns, pushing stocks lower in what was a slow week for trading. The Dow lost over 270 points last Thursday, offsetting robust gains the prior Monday. The S&P 500 fell 0.65%, while the Nasdaq dropped .64% last week.
Investors may have been disturbed by the rising tensions between the United States and North Korea last week, resulting in a shift from stocks to long-term bonds.
Last week ended with a mixed bag of stock market performances. The Dow, influenced by a favorable jobs report and strong corporate quarterly earnings, surged to a new record high. The S&P 500 also ended last week in positive territory.
The last day of July saw each of the indexes listed here post gains over their June closing values. Despite slumping tech stocks at the end of the month, the Nasdaq led the benchmarks for the month, closely followed by the Global Dow, as each index gained over 3.0%.
Of the benchmark indexes listed here, only the Dow and the Global Dow posted gains last week. The remaining indexes closed the week modestly lower, despite a rise in energy stocks following Saudi Arabia's promise to cut back oil production. Technology shares fell, which hampered both the Nasdaq and S&P 500.
Except for the Dow, each of the indexes listed here posted modest gains by the close of last week. Favorable corporate earnings reports helped boost the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq, which performed the best. The Russell 2000 gained almost 0.50% and the Global Dow inched ahead a little over 0.1%.
Both the Dow and S&P 500 reached record highs last week, and each of the indexes listed here posted gains. While the large-cap indexes reached new highs, the tech-heavy Nasdaq had the best week, climbing over 2.50% by last week's end, followed by the Global Dow, which gained a little over 2.0%.
Stocks ended last week higher, despite falling energy shares. The Dow and S&P 500 rose last Friday on the heels of June's strong labor report. Of the indexes listed here, the Dow led the way followed by the Nasdaq and the Global Dow.
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