Volatility remained very strong on Monday, on the New York Stock Exchange, where the indexes fell about 2% early in the session before recovering and ending slightly higher. On the merits, however, investors are still concerned about the same issues as in recent weeks: the trade war that threatens growth, the increased fear of a “hard Brexit” and uncertainties about the Fed’s monetary policy. The latter mainly put the financial stocks in New York under pressure.
Oil fell sharply by around 3%, while the dollar rallied sharply, especially against the British pound, which drank the cup after the postponement of the British Parliament vote on the Brexit agreement. At the close, the Dow Jones index gained 0.14% to 24,423 points (after a 2.24% fall on Friday), while the broad S & P 500 index gained 0.18% to 2,637 pts (-2 , 33% Friday) and that the, rich in technology and biotechnology stocks, rose by 0.74% to 7.020 pts (after -3.05% Friday). Last week, the three US indexes lost 4.5% (DJIA), 4.6% (S & P 500) and 4.9%, for the Nasdaq, their worst weekly performance since last March.
Tensions between the US and China are still at the forefront after the arrest of a top executive of Huawei. The hearing resumed on Monday, which determines whether or not Meng Wanzhou is released on bail. This weekend, the Chinese Foreign Ministry has called for the immediate release of Meng Wanzhou, the chief financial officer of China’s telecom giant, who has been detained since December 1 by Canada at the request of the United States.
The fact that British Prime Minister Theresa May postponed a vote on the Brexit did not, in particular, benefit bank stocks. A hard brexit would be bad for global economic growth. That could be another reason for the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates less quickly. Wells Fargo, Bank of America, Citigroup and JPMorgan Chase lost up to 2.9 percent.
