U.S. markets and stock exchange traded funds were mixed Wednesday as investors weighed the prospects of a strong earnings season against the political uncertainty surrounding Donald Trump’s inauguration.
The S&P 500 Index, along with related funds including the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (NYSEArca: SPY), iShares Core S&P 500 ETF (NYSEArca: IVV) and Vanguard 500 Index (NYSEArca: VOO), were up less than 0.1% Wednesday.
Financial stocks helped prop up the markets in recent sessions after a string of favorable fourth quarter earnings results, such as Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) revealing stronger-than-expected profits.
However, investors have grown more cautious ahead of Trump’s Friday, January 20 inauguration
“Unless something markedly happens during the earnings season, I think we will kind of bounce around for a while,” Bret Chesney, senior portfolio manager at Alpine Global, told Reuters.