The Dow ended with a new record after its biggest weekly gain since 2011, but other markets faltered on fears US president-elect Donald Trump’s spending policies will fire inflation.
With trade lightened by the Veterans Day holiday, the Dow edged up 0.2 percent to a new record at 18,847.66, scoring its best week in five years.
The Nasdaq rebounded after Thursday’s tech selloff, gaining 0.5 percent at 5,237.11. But the S&P 500 sagged under the weight of losses in the energy sector due to another sharp drop in crude oil prices. The broad-based index lost 0.1 percent at 2,164.45.
“For the most part, investors took the day off today in honor of Veterans Day,” said Jack Ablin of BMO Private Bank.
“Oil came down some... But with the bond market closed, it’s hard to really do much equity trading. So I wouldn’t take any of these moves today as any indication of a trend.”
Despite an all-time high close on Wall Street Thursday, investors across Asia and most of Europe turned cautious on uncertainties linked to a Trump presidency.
After the initial shock of Trump’s win, global equities rocketed up Wednesday and rose further Thursday, with investors hoping for business-friendly policies and measures to boost the US economy, a key driver of world growth.
However, there are also worries about his plans after he said he would tear up several trade deals and impose steep tariffs on China and Mexico.
“It’s been a Trumper-thumper of a couple of days in markets,” CMC Markets analyst Jasper Lawler wrote in a note to clients.
“The Trump dump was quickly followed by the Trump jump and now it seems we’re headed into the Trump slump.”
Expectations that real estate billionaire’s plans for huge spending projects will fan prices have lit a fire under the dollar as dealers bet the Federal Reserve eventually will have to hike borrowing costs more aggressively to cap inflation.

Source: Arab News