Weekly Summary: Trump Rally Is One Step of a Chequered Flag

S&P 500 broad market index futures are rising by 4.5% to 5978 points this week. This huge jump could easily become a record one since October 29, 2023. Then it happened after a 10% correction, which is not the case now. This could eventually limit the rally.

The rally was reignited by the presidential elections in the United States on Tuesday. First, it was an expected ending of the political uncertainty that was accompanying the election process. Then the republican Donald Trump was gaining the lead and eventually became a president elected. Trump has become a second president in U.S. history that was elected after a break for the second term. Such success story largely inspired investors. Everybody recall that Trump was dragging the stocks indexes up throughout his entire first term as the U.S. President. Everybody expect he will nurture the stock market this time too.

The S&P 500 index updated its all-time highs on Wednesday, and on Thursday too. It may easily continue climbing to the extreme targets at 6100-6200 points that are now just a click away. The benchmark is hovering around 5978 points with the latest historical record at 5984 points. It is only 2% away from the upside target. Thus, these extreme targets are highly likely to be met next week. But macroeconomic data is demonstrating a clear cooling of the American economy. October service PMI came out worse-than-expected, jobless claims are rising. Together with the disastrous Nonfarm Payrolls last week this raises concerns over sustainability of the market rally.

U.S. 10-year benchmark Treasuries yields jumped to 4.47%, the highest since July 1, 2024. Borrowing costs demonstrated an impressive 71 basis points rise for the month to date.

It seem that investors are experiencing a duality after Trump has won the elections. On the one hand, they are expecting the stock market to rally enjoying a support from the newly elected president. On the other hand, everybody understand that Trump would tighten trade tariffs on China, the European Union, Japan, Mexico and other prompting them to counteract accordingly. They could even start selling some of the U.S. debt in response. This will lead to rising borrowing costs. Thus, investors may support the rally in a short term, but expect uncertainty or even some negative developments in the longer run. Many believe that Trump could have benefited from the market downturn now. In this case, the Federal Reserve (Fed) would have to cut interest rates faster that would lead to a weaker Dollar, and lower U.S. trade deficit. So, investors have to be cautious after the S&P 500 index jumps above 6100-6200 points barrier.

Meanwhile large investors support the rally. The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY) reported net inflows of $3.39 billion this week. Could it sound overoptimistic?

October inflation and retail sales numbers will be released next week accompanied by the Fed’s Chair Jerome Powell testimony. This week the Fed has signalled caution waving concerns over stubborn inflation. New data could firm this concern prompting a possible pause in the monetary easing trajectory.

From a technical standpoint, the outlook for the S&P 500 index has improved. The benchmark has surpassed primary targets at 5700-5800 points and restarted the rally toward the 6100-6200 extreme targets. The next resistance lies at 6000-6020 points.

In the commodities market, Brent crude oil prices have recovered their 7% drop of the last week. Iran has promised to strike back on Israel. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting countries and its allies known as OPEC+ once again delayed oil production cuts. The nearest resistance is at $78.00-80.00, while the support is at $70.00-72.00 per barrel. Further trajectory will largely depend on the next moves of the U.S. president elected.

Gold prices have passed the resistance at $2,710-$2,730 per troy ounce and retreated by 3.1% to $2,696. If they manage to rise above $2,710-2,730 per ounce once again the rally towards $2,870-2,890, with potential highs of $3,200-$3,300 per ounce may resume.

In the currency market, the EURUSD unexpectedly lost 1.4% to 1.06820, the lowest since June 27. The Greenback has erase its gains completely vs some reserve currencies by the end of the week. The EURUSD is likely to follow. The pair is trading around 1.07800 now.