The S&P 500 (Index: SPX) completed the Lévy flight event it began last week, with investors fully shifting their forward-looking focus to 2020-Q4 in setting current day stock prices, as expected.
As of the close of trading on Friday, 24 January 2020, the level of the S&P 500 was 3,295.47.
The shift in focus was completed as the outbreak of a new SARS coronavirus in China came to dominate headlines during the week. Here are the market-moving headlines we noted during the holiday-shortened trading week of January 2020:
- Tuesday, 21 January 2020
- Oil market shrugs off Libya crisis amid ample global supply
- Bigger trouble developing in Asia, Eurozone
- Risk assets fall as Chinese virus triggers anxiety
- China's Baoshang Bank to be taken over by local governments, state firms
- South Korea posts slowest annual GDP growth since financial crisis
- Euro zone companies cut loan applications for first time in six years: ECB
- Germany likely to lose the most from trade diverted by U.S.-Sino deal
- Trump says Fed has lowered rates too slowly
- Wall Street falls as China virus reaches the U.S.
- Wednesday, 22 January 2020
- Thursday, 23 January 2020
- Oil falls 2% as specter of China virus threatens fuel demand
- Bigger trouble, stimulus developing in Asia:
- Japan exports shrink for 13th month in further blow to economy
- China central bank to lower funding costs, prevent debt and inflation risks: adviser
- S&P 500 gains, Nasdaq hits new high as investors eye earnings, coronavirus
- Friday, 24 January 2020
- Brent logs worst weekly loss in a year as China virus fears swell
- Early signs of rebound in Eurozone?
- Euro zone economy remains weak but green shoots emerging: PMIs
- ECB's Lagarde says uptick in inflation 'really minor'
- And Japan? Slowing contraction in Japan factory activity eases fears of recession: flash PMI
- The S&P 500 has worst day since October as virus fears mount
Elsewhere, Barry Ritholtz lays out a short list of the positives and negatives he found in the past week's economics and market-related news. Between us and him, did we catch them all during the MLK holiday-shortened trading week?