Thursday, March 8, 2018

Stocks Steady As Trump Softens Steel, Aluminum Tariffs

As seen through the eyes of Wall Street computer algorithms, President Trump's 25% tariff on steel imports and 10% on aluminum aren't so bad after all.

Stocks ended the day in the green, but it was a bumpy ride getting there, with most of the gains coming in the final half-hour of trading, during and after Trump's announcement.

In realistic analysis, Thursday's trading amounted to less than nothing, focused so heavily upon the tariff issue, as if that were all that mattered. Tomorrow's non-farm payroll report for January, released at 8:30 am, prior to the opening bell, will likely impact markets more decidedly.

Stocks, with the Dow Jones Average in particular, have made essentially no progress since February 14, when it closed at 24,893.49. There's still a mountain to climb to get back to all-time highs from January 26 (26,616.71). The Dow remains in the red for March.

Elsewhere, oil closed just a hair above $60/barrel, at $60.33, a multi-week low, gold was down to $1322.50 per ounce, while silver held steady at $16.50 the ounce. Bonds continued to hold firm, with the 10-year-note finishing with a yield of 2.87%.

Dow Jones Industrial Average March Scorecard:

Date Close Gain/Loss Cum. G/L
3/1/18 24,608.98 -420.22 -420.22
3/2/18 24,538.06 -70.92 -491.14
3/5/18 24,874.76 +336.70 -154.44
3/6/18 24,884.12 +9.36 -145.08
3/7/18 24,801.36 -82.76 -227.84
3/8/18 24,895.21 +93.85 -133.99

At the Close, Thursday, March 8, 2018:
Dow Jones Industrial Average: 24,895.21, +93.85 (+0.38%)
NASDAQ: 7,427.95, +31.30 (+0.42%)
S&P 500: 2,738.97, +12.17 (+0.45%)
NYSE Composite: 12,745.01, +38.00 (+0.30%)

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