Your Weekly Trading Review by UFX.com – Sunday, January 21st, 2018
Here are some of this past week’s leading economic news and events that affected the financial markets:
The EUR/USD fell by 0.13%, closing the week at $1.2222. The GBP/USD decreased by 0.26%, ending the week at a £1.3858 exchange rate. Gold went up by 0.44% as of last week’s market close, closing at $1,333.10. Crude Oil fell by 0.91%, closing at $63.37 a barrel. The Dow Jones ended the week up by 0.21%, closing at a value of 26,071.72. The S&P 500 rose by +0.44%, closing at a value of 2,810.30. And lastly, the NASDAQ increased by 0.55%, ending the week at a value point of 7,336.38.
U.S. Government Hits Wall
The U.S. Government has hit a wall and a shut down is in motion. The congress failed to legitimise a spending bill which consequently has caused all government functions to be closed and thousands of federal workers will be placed on leave without pay.
If the U.S. government does not reach an agreement in the upcoming days on the dispute of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals immigration policy, more than 750 federal employees will not return to work on Monday and will not be paid for the missing period.
The shut down could raise issues in the financial market. Even though the Securities and Exchange Commission funds itself by collecting fees from the financial industry, its financial expenditure is determined by U.S. government. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission, meanwhile, would have to temporarily place 95 percent of its employees on immediate leave.
Wall Street Ends the Week High
Even though there was deep tension in the market, due to the looming government shut down, Wall Street closed with impressive results. Trading volume on U.S. exchanges was 6.82 billion shares, in comparison to the 6.32 billion average over the previous 20 trading days.
The S&P 500 and the NASDAQ ended the week with record results: The S&P 500 increased by +0.44%, closing at a value of 2,810.30. The NASDAQ rose by 0.55%, ending the week at a value point of 7,336.38. The Dow Jones ended week up by 0.21%, closing at a value of 26,071.72.
That’s our summary of the financial headlines from the past week. Good luck with this week’s trading and stay tuned for the next review from UFX.