Stock Market Roundup: Rollercoaster Week for Stocks Ends on a High 

NEW YORK CITY, NY – It was a rollercoaster week for world stocks, as shares reacted to the US-China trade deal drama. US stocks closed higher this week but multiweek gains stopped as investors appeared unimpressed with the latest hopeful comments from both countries.

Markets finished the week on a high note, with benchmark indices like the Dow Jones and the S&P 500 wrapping the week with average gains. The pharmaceutical and retail sectors had some positive movement while the real estate and energy niches were sluggish.

Tesla’s big reveal of “Cybertruck” was highly anticipated but fell flat, along with it shares which dropped 6.1%. Meanwhile, data analytics firm Splunk went the other direction as its shares rose by 10.8%. The company’s new subscription model is touted to be responsible for the boost.

Nordstrom stocks saw a 10% gain after the retail giant’s third quarter revenue went beyond what Wall Street was expecting. Fellow retailer Foot Locker Inc. wasn’t so lucky though. The sports shoe and accessories company reported that revenues were better than expected but shares still dropped by three percent.

The Dow closed the week by rising 0.39% or 109.33 points at 27,875.6. The S&P 500 also received a boost and saw a rise of 0.22% or 6.75 points at 3,110.29. Meanwhile, the Nasdaq Index went up by 0.16% or 13.67 points at 8,519.88.

It was a startling reversal to Thursday’s performance when the major indexes fell. The Dow, the S&P, and the Nasdaq all slid down by 0.2%. But for this week, the Dow ended much lower than last week. Its 0.5% drop snapped the index’ four-week run. The S&P’s six-week gains were also cut by a 0.3% drop while the Nasdaq’s 0.3% retreat ended its seven-week winning streak.

The Asian market had a dizzying run this week. The region’s main indexes plummeted early in the week, as reports that a Phase One deal won’t be happening until next hit media sites. It was exacerbated when Pres. Trump’s commented on Wednesday that he’s not ready to reach an agreement with China as the country wasn’t “stepping up.”

However, signs that China and the US are trying to work something out has since stocks edging up by Friday. The week ended with the Nikkei 225 up by 0.4% and the KOSPI rising 0.2%. Meanwhile, the Hang Seng index also went up 0.3%. China’s Shanghai Composite Index dipped by 0.5% though.

Jeffrey Halley, a senior market analyst for Oanda likened Asia’s trading this week to catching the flu on Monday and recovering from it by Friday.