Can the Stock Market Hold onto This Week’s Gains?
U.S. stocks fell again on Thursday but are still up for the week. Will they be able to retain their gains despite the looming threat of more tariffs and a sticky inflation rate?
It is likely that stocks will fall again today since the market is still volatile and investors are cautious about dipping in when there are new tariffs coming down the pike next week. It is likely that those tariffs will pull the market down a bit more, but perhaps not as much as was feared when they were first announced. Donald Trump has softened the blow with statements about broader tariffs and giving some countries a break.
The Nasdaq Composite is up by 0.11% for the week so far, with the S&P 500 gaining just 0.45% this week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.75% for the week as well. Thursday saw the market drop but still managed to hold onto some of its weekly gains. Friday is shaping up to be another down day with nothing majorly positive to prop it up.
The new auto market tariffs arrived this week and caused stocks to slip, and they may continue to pull at stock prices for the remainder of the week.
A More Volatile Market
Next week will shed some light on where the tariff policy is headed, but it is not looking good right now. The chief market strategist for New York Life Investments, Lauren Goodwin, says that the markets are likely to stay volatile for a while. Investors and analysts alike see tariffs as a source of volatility for the stock market and anticipate that they will see unpredictable stock prices for the near future.
We can expect that as long as tariffs are still in play that the stock market will trend lower. However, there is an interest rate cut from the Fed coming up, and the end-of-the-month report for inflation could be good news if it continues to trend lower.
Friday morning marked the release of the PCE (personal consumption expenditures price index). This report from the Commerce Department was higher than economists anticipated, with a 2.8% core inflation level that is up by 0.4% for March. Personal income is also up, as consumer spending grew by 0.4% for the month.
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