Log in to today’s North American session Market wrap for October 17
US stocks finished a nervous week on a high note, gaining ground as President Donald Trump’s comments suggested trade tensions with China were easing and regional bank stocks bounced back.
The S&P 500 index saw its best weekly gain since August after Trump said he was optimistic about reaching a deal with Chinese President Xi Jinping at their upcoming meeting, calming fears of an escalating trade war.
This positive sentiment was boosted by a rebound in regional bank stocks, which had plunged earlier in the week due to loan quality fears.
Both Zions Bancorp and Western Alliance Bancorp, the banks at the heart of the worry, rallied over 3.1% as bank executives quickly reassured investors and reported lower-than-expected provisions for loan losses in their latest earnings.
As market confidence returned, traders moved money out of safe-haven assets: bonds, gold, and silver all fell, while bond yields rose from their recent lows. Despite the week’s high volatility, investors poured $28.1 billion back into stock funds, pulling money out of cash funds.
Separately, with the US government shutdown still blocking official data, one unofficial measure showed that applications for unemployment benefits fell last week, suggesting the job market may still be stable despite other signs of economic weakness. Oracle Corp. was a notable exception to the rally, dropping about 7% due to renewed concerns about its ability to meet the massive demand for its AI cloud services.
