As the U.S. and China trade war drones on, U.S. markets continue to swing back and forth following any newly released trade news. In similar fashion, the S&P 500 Index (SPY) and the Nasdaq (QQQ) have had negative gains this week with trade news becoming increasingly bleak as to whether a trade agreement will be met before 2020.
Consumer Staples (AMEX: XLP) and Technology (AMEX:XLK) continue to move with trade war news, since many of the stocks within these ETFs are heavily affected by tariff prices and agreements. Technology stocks took a dip Tuesday following President Donald Trump's United Nation's address where he disapproved of China's trading tactics. Investors continue to move towards less volatile investments due to the rollercoaster movements of the trade war.
Brent crude oil prices have begun to slide mid-week as Saudi Arabia's Aramco restores oil output much earlier than previously expected. U.S. crude inventories saw a sharp increase Wednesday with oil futures dropping 2.50% in price. The U.S energy sector (AMEX: XLE) have seen a dip this week below their 200-day simple moving average due to the market having to reset itself back to pre-attack oil and natural gas prices.
In gold (AMEX: GLD) news, prices have remained steady this week even amid continuing trade war controversy. Many investors in the past few months have been returning to this commodity for it usually has a better return future than other stocks that could be affected by new trade agreements between world economic superpowers. The commodity has stayed above its 200-day simple moving average for all of this week.