Dow Teeters While Trump Praises Himself for Meteoric Stock Market

The Dow teetered on Tuesday as investors anticipated a deluge of market-shaking events slated for later in the week. President Trump, meanwhile, used an otherwise yawn-inducing day on Wall Street to congratulate himself for the stock market’s meteoric performance during the month of June.

Dow Wobbles But Holds Near All-Time High

All of Wall Street’s major indices entered the session trading near their previous-day closes. Shortly after the opening bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average had gained 20.41 points or 0.08%; the DJIA last traded at 26,747.95.

The Dow crept to minor gains following a muted futures session. | Source: Yahoo Finance

The S&P 500 dipped 0.44 points or 0.01% to 2,944.91. Five sectors reported losses, led by Communications and Energy.

The Nasdaq lost 2.53 points or 0.03%, reducing it to 8,003.17.

Trump Pats Himself on Back for Stock Market Boom

A hesitant stock market demonstrated a lack of conviction for the second consecutive day. Investor attention remains focused on developments that will mature later in the week, including remarks from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, a government data dump, simmering US-Iran tensions, an upcoming OPEC meeting, and – of course – the critical meeting between Donald Trump and Xi Jinping at the G20 summit in Osaka, Japan.

But while analysts at UBS warn that a failed Trump-Xi tête-à-tête could ignite a global recession and a stock market meltdown, President Trump does not appear concerned about the health of the Dow or the strength of its mammoth 2019 recovery.

In fact, Trump took to Twitter this morning to tout the booming stock market, and – more importantly – praise himself for the rally.

“Stock Market is heading for one of the best months (June) in the history of our Country. Thank you Mr. President!”

It’s true that the stock market is climbing at a historic pace. The S&P 500, Nasdaq, and Dow (during intraday trading) have broached new highs in recent weeks, rendering last year’s dramatic sell-off little more than a distant memory.

The Dow, as CCN reported, is on track to record its best June performance since 1938, when the stock market was still recovering from the Great Depression.

Gluskin Sheff Economist: ‘Genius’ Trump is Manipulating Stock Market for 2020 Surge

However, Trump’s insinuation that he is wholly responsible for the recovery is far more controversial, particularly given how his seemingly-scattershot approach to international diplomacy has triggered near-constant stock market volatility.

Permabear David Rosenberg even speculated that Trump could be deliberately depressing stock valuations now so that he could unleash a feverish recovery in 2020 ahead of the presidential election.

“Maybe Trump is a genius, after all. What if he finally gets the steep Fed rate cuts he has been demanding?” Rosenberg, the chief economist at Gluskin Sheff, tweeted earlier this month. “After that, he ends the trade wars, tariffs go to zero, and the stock market surges to new highs — just in time for the 2020 election!”

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