Bolstered by favorable earnings reports from retailers Target and Lowe’s, stocks closed higher Wednesday after struggling one day earlier.
The blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average finished 240 points, or 0.93% higher, while the S&P 500 ended 0.82% higher and the tech-heavy Nasdaq climbed 0.9%.
The gains come one week after the Dow sank 800 points, more than 3%, in the worst day of losses for the year. The market, however, rebounded with a 300-point climb at the end of the week, but stocks overall ended lower Friday.
Last week’s market volatility came after the Trump administration postponed 10% tariffs on some of the $300 billion in goods shipped from China and excluded others from the duties. While the Dow surged after the president announced the relief for products including electronics, toys, certain footwear, and apparel, it tanked a day later after the bond market flashed a warning sign about a potential recession.
The bond market flashed a recession warning signal briefly again Wednesday.
President Trump has sought to downplay the possibility of an economic downturn, as a booming economy will be a crucial key to his reelection success in 2020. To ensure continued economic expansion, the president instead urged the Federal Reserve, while also taking a swipe at Fed Chairman Jerome Powell, to cut its benchmark interest rate by a full percentage point and possibly start quantitative easing.
The president continued his attacks on Powell, his pick to succeed Janet Yellen last year, on Wednesday, calling him a “golfer who can’t putt, has no touch.”
“Big U.S. growth if he does the right thing, BIG CUT – but don’t count on him!” Trump tweeted. “So far he has called it wrong, and only let us down.”
…..We are competing with many countries that have a far lower interest rate, and we should be lower than them. Yesterday, “highest Dollar in U.S.History.” No inflation. Wake up Federal Reserve. Such growth potential, almost like never before!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 21, 2019
