Investing.com – Take a peek at the top 5 things that rocked U.S. markets this week.
Risk is back in vogue
It what was one the busiest weeks of the corporate earnings season, investors piled into equities, as a raft of large cap companies reported better than expected earnings.
The Dow, S&P 500 and Nasdaq notched 1% for the month, as the latter (NASDAQ) hit a new-all time on Thursday, after a strong bout of earnings from a few large-cap tech companies lifted sentiment.
Tech giants' Alphabet, Intel, Amazon, and Microsoft posted better than expected earnings on Thursday, after the closing the bell.
President Donald Trump’s tax plan unveiled
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Economic Council Director Gary Cohn said Wednesday, that President Donald Trump’s tax reform plan would slash the U.S. corporation tax to 15% while introducing a tax repatriation holiday for businesses that have sizeable investments overseas.
Investors were disappointed by the lack of details concerning the tax reform package, as both Mnuchin and Cohen appeared reluctant to elaborate on how the Trump administration proposed to pay for the reforms outlined in the tax plan without increasing the budget.
Gold loses its glitter
The slump in gold prices continued for the second straight week, as the precious metal pulled back from a five-month high achieved last week, after investors abandon the flight to safety trade amid a raft of market-positive developments.
Investors ditched safe-haven gold as sentiment shifted towards risker assets, after pro-European candidate Emmanuel Macron won the first round of the French presidential election while geopolitical tensions in North Korea eased.
The euro rallied to a five-month high
The euro hit a five-month high against the dollar on Monday, after pro-European candidate Emmanuel Macron won the first round of the French presidential election.
The single currency pared back gains later in the week, after European Central Bank President Mario Draghi said inflationary pressure “remain subdued”.
EUR/USD clawed its way back to five-month highs on Friday as expectations grew that the ECB would start to consider tightening monetary policy.
The slide in oil prices continued
Crude futures posted a loss for the second straight month, as investors weighed the impact of rising U.S. production on OPEC’s efforts to drain the glut in supply.
A larger than expected drawdown in crude inventories was offset by a surprise uptick in gasoline inventories to a three-month high amid a slowdown in gasoline demand.
Investors remained optimistic that OPEC would agree to extend the supply-cut agreement beyond June, after OPEC Secretary-General Mohammad Barkindo said Thursday, the oil cartel is working to get a consensus before oil ministers meet next month in Vienna.