Investors may be feeling a slight case of déjà vu. This week was dominated by a common and recurring theme: tech stocks and the trade skirmishes.
Tech continues to be a major driver of the overall market, and this week continued with that theme. Key earnings and Apple’s (AAPL ) product launch announcement were a prime focus for traders over the last seven days.
As was the latest news in the trade war. NAFTA negotiations continued this week with some progress. But traders remained keenly focused on what will happen in China. A reinforcement of tariffs over the weekend set a negative tone for the week.
That dour position was buoyed by relatively positive economic data. The week was jam-packed of metrics in consumer, retail and manufacturing sectors. Also released this week was the critical CPI inflation data, which gave traders a hint as to what the Fed will likely do come the next FOMC meeting.
With the earnings season winding down, the week was pretty light in terms of firms reporting earnings. However, several blue-chip companies reported positive numbers and expanded guidance figures.
All in all, the week was a mixed bag of positive local and negative global news. Stocks finished lower during the ebb and flow.
