Market Update: Stocks Post Weekly Losses

Published: Sept. 23, 2019, 8:43 p.m.

Indices landed in the red zone on Monday, as stocks dipped and oil surged after a strike on Saudi Arabia's crude production increased geopolitical risk. Oil jumped 15% with Brent marking its largest one-day uptick in 30 years. Energy brands stepped up on the news. The major indices moved to positive territory on Tuesday. The Federal Open Market Committee began its two-day meeting, which will focus on whether to cut interest rates. There was also weakness in the Energy and Basic Materials sectors, likely due to a large decline in crude oil prices. Furthermore, fears of production outages in Saudi Arabia seemed to subside Markets finished with mixed moves on Wednesday, with banks and Healthcare sector stocks ramping up on comments from the FOMC meeting. The Fed slashed interest rates by 25 basis points for the second time this year. The benchmark rate is now 1.75% to 2%. Members were split on whether rates will be cut again. The Fed also boosted its GDP forecast for 2019 to 2.2% from 2.1%. Chairman Jerome Powell said that "moderate" policy moves should be sufficient to sustain the U.S. expansion. U.S. stocks gave up most of their gains heading into Thursday’s closing bell, though major indexes remained within striking distance of their records. The indexes opened modestly higher as investors continued to assess the Federal Reserve’s latest outlook on future interest-rate cuts. But they couldn’t sustain the rally. The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended the session down 0.2%, while the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite were essentially flat. Friday’s session started quietly. But stocks turned lower in afternoon trading on reports that a Chinese trade delegation would be returning home earlier than expected, souring hopes for a trade deal between Washington and Beijing. The Dow shed 0.6%, while the S&P 500 fell 0.5% and The Nasdaq slumped 0.8%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average suffered a loss of about 1% for the week, which featured turmoil in money markets and dramatic swings in crude prices following an attack on oil facilities in Saudi Arabia. Still, both the Dow and the S&P 500 are within about 1.5% of their closing records from July.