The Dow experienced a mixed week, gaining and losing on alternate days. The blue-chip index declined on Monday as heightened concerns about Greece’s debt negotiations continued to hurt investor sentiment. The Dow gained on Tuesday as easing concerns about Greece’s debt negotiations boosted investor confidence.
Uncertainty regarding bailout negotiations between Greece and its creditors led to losses for the blue-chip index on Wednesday. The Dow moved upward on Thursday after a ceasefire agreement between Russia and Ukraine boosted investor confidence. The Dow has gained 0.8% during the first four trading days.
Last Week’s Performance
Last Friday, the Dow declined more than 0.3% after fresh concerns about Greece’s debt negotiations offset encouraging job data. The U.S. economy created more than 200,000 jobs for the 11th consecutive month in January, its longest such stretch since 1994. Additionally, the average hourly earnings increased 0.5%. Year-on-year growth in average hourly wages came in at 2.2%.
However, it was reported that Eurozone officials asked the Greek government to apply for an extension of its bailout program by Feb 16. The current bailout program valued at $275-billion will expire on Feb 28. Meanwhile, a rise in the possibility of a rate hike in mid-2015 due to improving labor market conditions dented investor sentiment.
Over the week, the Dow gained 3.8%. Markets ended with solid weekly gains as increase in oil prices except from Wednesday boosted energy shares. Moreover, encouraging earnings results, merger and acquisition (M&A) news and auto sales data also helped benchmarks to end in positive territory. However, concerns about Greece’s debt negotiation offset some of the gains.
Domestic-made vehicle sales climbed to an annualized rate of 13.5 million banking on increase in demand for trucks and sport-utility vehicles. However, economic data including factory orders, ISM Manufacturing Index and initial claims numbers were disappointing.
The Dow This Week
Markets ended in negative territory on Monday as heightened concerns about Greece’s debt negotiations continued to hurt investor sentiment. On Sunday, Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras announced that the government will not ask for extension of its bailout program from creditors.
Moreover, China’s disappointing trade data also had a negative impact on benchmarks on Monday. Exports declined 3.3% year over year in January, following a 9.7% rise in December. Moreover, the economy witnessed a 19.9% drop in January’s imports, wider than December’s decline of 2.4%. However, rise in oil prices limited some of the day’s losses. The Dow lost 0.5%.
The blue-chip index gained 0.8% on Tuesday as easing concerns about Greece’s debt negotiations boosted investor confidence. It was reported on Tuesday that the European Commission may consider extending the deadline of Greece’s bailout program by another six months. Investors took the view that this development is an important step toward a potential breakthrough for debt negotiations.
