U.S. equities and stock exchange traded funds were flat Monday as markets brushed off the latest terror attacks in the United Kingdom and improving data helped bolster confidence in the economy.
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 unchanged Monday.
Travel and leisure markets declined in the U.S. and Europe after the weekend terror attack in London left seven dead, reports Christopher Whittall for the Wall Street Journal.
“We’re coming off a pretty strong rally and, in the absence of news to change that direction, we would anticipate that it would continue in that fashion,” Bill Northey, chief investment officer at U.S. Bank Wealth Management, told Reuters. “Plus, anytime you have an attack, such as the one in the UK, it causes some market disruption. This has been a resilient equity market and as we go through the course of this week, economic data and the Fed will drive the market.”
Investors and analysts, though, believed that geopolitical risks were having less impact on share prices than signs of a strengthening global economy and corporate earnings, which have supported the ongoing momentum that pushed global indices to record highs.
“We do think overall the picture is still a strong one for stocks,” Kully Samra, managing director at Charles Schwab, told the WSJ, citing the health of the U.S. economy and corporate earnings. But while stocks should continue to climb, “you may get some pullbacks along the way.”
Reflecting the ongoing exuberance in the equities market, Alphabet (NasdaqGS: GOOGL) shares breached $1,000 for the first time shortly after the opening bell Monday. This follows Amazon (NadaqGS: AMZN) first close the same milestone Friday.
Looking ahead, the markets will be watching for potential catalysts of volatility, including a testimony from former FBI director James Comey, a European Central Bank meeting and the general elections in the U.K.
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