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Bloomberg
A week marked by surprises, from a US missile strike in Syria to a jobs report that was the weakest in almost a year, did little to rattle US equities sitting near record levels.
Against a backdrop of rising geopolitical tensions and uncertainty over the Donald Trump administration’s approach to financial regulation, volatility remained muted in the stock market. The VIX tallied its 103rd session below 15, the longest streak since February 2007, according to Bloomberg data.
The S&P 500 Index fluctuated between gains and losses throughout the week before ending 0.3 percent lower. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished the five days virtually unchanged, while small-cap shares in the Russell 2000 Index posted their third weekly loss of at least 1 percent in the past month.
“While investors may be struggling to find reasons to get into the market, they also realize the reasons to sell are limited,†strategists at Voya Investment Management said in a note. Gains in energy and real estate companies offset losses in financial firms and consumer discretionary shares on the week as commodity prices advanced and investors shifted to so-called “defensive†stocks like utilities and consumer staples. Banks and brokerages lost 1 percent for the fourth weekly decline in five.