Claire HunteAfter a tumultuous week, the stock market, Miles Eakers, chief market analyst at Centtrip, says is struggling for direction.
US stocks pared losses in a mixed session on Thursday edging up 0.23%. The market-weighted index was down -1% over five days and -4.76% over one month.
The US Dollar Index eked out a 0.2% gain at 89.923 echoing a similar lack of direction in the currency markets.
President Donald Trump is to announce on Friday a new set of sanctions against North Korea to increase pressure on Pyongyang for its nuclear and ballistic missile tests. The announcement is expected to be made during the Conservative Political Action Conference.
Meanwhile, recent economic data is supporting the Federal Reserve’s more bullish stance on the US economy buoyed by recent tax cuts and a stronger global economy.
According to the minutes from the January meeting, a number of officials believe that the economy is likely to grow faster than what was projected at their December meeting.
The president and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank in Dallas, Robert Kaplan, signalled the Fed should continue to raise interest rates this year in response to accelerated growth. I
If Fed officials become more confident of inflation rising toward their 2% target, it could slow the rate of increases.
The central bank had pencilled in just three more increases for 2018 but economists are arguing there is a possibility that the Fed will move more aggressively with up to five increases in 2018 as the economy heats up.
The Dow closed up +0.66% on Thursday to 24,962.48.