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December 8, 2017 Weekly Market Recap

Equities ticked higher this week as investors geared up for an end-of-year showdown in Washington. The employment numbers continue to improve as well.

The S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average both advanced 0.4%, closing Friday’s session at fresh record highs, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq underperformed, losing 0.1%. Small caps struggled this week, pushing the Russell 2000 lower by 1.0%.

December 8, 2017 Weekly Market RecapInvestor sentiment was upbeat at Monday’s opening bell after the U.S. Senate passed its version of a tax reform bill over the weekend, allowing the GOP to enter the final stretch of its quest to rewrite the tax code. House and Senate Republicans are hoping to reach an agreement on a final bill and pass said bill in their respective chambers before December 22.

With the legislative agenda for the rest of the year virtually set, investors appeared to be in wait-and-see mode for much of the week. However, the Employment Situation Report for November, which was released on Friday, helped equities finish the week on a positive note.

The Employment Situation Report for November showed a larger-than-expected increase in nonfarm payrolls and a smaller-than-expected rise in average hourly earnings.

In other words, job growth has remained strong while wages, which are positively correlated with inflation, have remained relatively subdued. This combination has proven to be highly beneficial for the stock market as it points to steady economic growth but leaves out the inflationary concerns that typically accompany said growth.

The S&P 500’s eleven sectors finished the week mixed, with seven settling in the green and four closing in the red. The financial sector was the top performer, adding 1.5%, followed closely by the industrial group (+1.4%). Within the industrial space, transports showed particular strength, pushing the Dow Jones Transportation Average higher by 2.1%.

On the downside, the energy sector lost 0.7% amid a decrease in the price of crude oil; West Texas Intermediate crude futures declined 1.8% to $57.30 per barrel. The utilities space (-1.0%) also struggled as energy providers like Edison (EIX) faced outages due to wild fires in Southern California; EIX shares lost 11.1% for the week.

Corporate news was pretty light this week, but it’s worth noting that CVS Health (CVS) acquired health insurer Aetna (AET) for $207 per share in cash and stock. That price represents a premium of about 29% to where Aetna shares were trading before the Wall Street Journal reported that the companies were in talks in October.

Looking ahead, the Fed is widely expected to announce a rate hike of 25 basis points next week, which would bring the fed funds target range to 1.25% – 1.50%.

Source: Briefing Investor

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Mike Minter

Shareholder | Chief Investment Officer

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