Dow Jones 21409 flat
S$P 500 2425 minus 1.90
DAX 12437 minus 8.90
FTSE 7329 minus 40
OIL 45.11 plus 0.71
GOLD 1216.28 plus 4.18
AUD 0.7633
SPI futures minus 3
U.S. stocks pared afternoon losses Tuesday as a pair of political developments dominated the news cycle.
The market had initially turned south before recovering after Donald Trump Jr. released a chain of emails regarding a meeting in June 2016 to discuss allegedly incriminating information about Hillary Clinton as part of the Russian government’s support of his father’s presidential candidacy.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, +0.00% rose 23 points, or 0.1%, at 21,432, but earlier had fallen more than 120 points. The S&P 500 SPX, -0.08% lost less than a point to 2,426. The Nasdaq Composite Index COMP, +0.27% was up 13 points, or 0.2%, to 6,190, but also had been down solidly before reversing course.
The emails with publicist Rob Goldstone show that the son of President Donald Trump was told the Russian government had information that would incriminate Clinton.
“Investors may suspect that Donald Trump, Jr., came forward with his meetings with the Russian attorney and released his emails because the FBI investigation may been catching up with him on that issue. The sense was he tried to get in front of it,” said Jack Ablin, chief investment officer at BMO Private Bank.
But after a knee-jerk reaction, stocks held their ground and eventually made up much of the deficit, helped by news that the Senate is delaying its summer recess until the third week of August to give lawmakers more time to work on key legislative matters such as a health-care bill.
The passage of the health-care bill is viewed as critical in paving the way for other key legislative changes that are at the center of President Donald Trump’s pro-growth agenda, including more business-friendly tax codes.
Wall Street has risen firmly this year, with the Dow and S&P 500 both up more than 8% thus far in 2017. The Nasdaq’s advance has been sharper, up almost 15%, boosted by an extended rally in large-capitalization technology shares, a sector that has pulled back recently.
Much of the market’s postelection rally has come on hopes that the Trump administration would push through legislation on tax reform and spending that could accelerate economic growth and stimulate corporate profits. As a result, investors have been worried that controversies with Russia are seen as making the passage of such initiatives less likely.
“There are legitimate concerns that something could blow up with respect to the Russian scandal, and that could be enough to temper a market that has been moving up,” said Bruce McCain, chief investment strategist at Key Private Bank. “It’s fair to think that absent any good news on economic fundamentals or on legislation coming out of Washington, that additional worries about scandal can’t help the market.”
Traders are also looking ahead to the start to the next earnings season. Key companies, including such major banks as J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. JPM, -0.39% and Citigroup Inc. C, -1.23% are scheduled to report on Friday. By and large, financials are expected to post mediocre trading revenue this quarter.
On the Fed front for Tuesday, Fed Gov. Lael Brainard, speaking at a conference held at Columbia University, indicated she supports the central bank beginning to reverse its $4.5 trillion balance sheet but wasn’t persuaded on more rate increases after that
What we can expect
futures currently pointing to a slightly lower opening, currently down 3 points
