According to an insurance research group, the flood damage from Harvey could be equivalent to that from 2005’s Hurricane Katrina, which came with a $15 billion flood insurance bill.
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Observers, though, believe market activity could pick up ahead as a slew of reports come in, including the latest estimates for the second quarter gross domestic product, personal consumption expenditures and monthly jobs reports, the Wall Street Journal reports. Global data has also been relatively strong, supporting the outlook on corporate profits.
“It feels like we’re in a sweet spot for financial assets, where you have a synchronized global expansion while inflation remains low,” David Donabedian, chief investment officer at CIBC Atlantic Trust Private Wealth Management, told the WSJ. “There’s a lot of focus on Washington, but we shouldn’t forget that the strong economic backdrop is always the single most important backdrop for equity markets.”
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