Markets held surprisingly steady in lieu of Moscow's potential interference in Trump's 2016 election, as Trump concluded what he termed a "deeply productive" summit meeting with Putin.
"They said they think it's Russia," Mr. Trump said. "I have President Putin; he just said it's not Russia," the president continued, only moments after Mr. Putin conceded that he had wanted Mr. Trump to win the election because of his promises of warmer relations with Moscow.
"I will say this: I don't see any reason why it would be" Russia that was responsible for the election hacking," Mr. Trump added. "President Putin was extremely strong and powerful in his denial today."
The 45-minute news conference primarily was about arms control, intelligence reports of Russian meddling in the 2016 US election (which Russia disputed), and the annexation of Ukraine. Oil prices, speculated to be a topic heading in, were reportedly not addressed, nor was global trade friction.
The failure to address key market drivers such as oil and trade may have been why the general tone of markets remained unchanged and middle-of-the-road.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, +0.32% rose 44.95 points to 25,064.36, a rise of 0.2%, thanks partly to gains in shares of components JPMorgan Chase & Co. JPM, +0.13% and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. GS, -0.19%. The blue-chip benchmark has risen seven of the past eight sessions and 10 of the past 12. The S&P 500 index SPX, +0.22% meanwhile, fell 2.88 points to 2,798.43, a loss of 0.1%. Financials led the gains, rising 1.8%, but that advance was counterbalanced by losses in energy shares, which slid 1.2%, and materials and health-care sectors, which declined 0.8% and 0.7% respectively. The Nasdaq Composite Index COMP, -0.01% declined by 20.26 points, or 0.3%, to 7,805.72.
When asked directly whether he believed Mr. Putin or his own intelligence agencies about the election meddling, Mr. Trump said there were "two thoughts" on the matter: one from American officials like Dan Coats, his director of national intelligence, asserting Russia's involvement; and one from Mr. Putin dismissing it.
"I have confidence in both parties," Trump said.
Upon being asked whether he had wanted Trump to win the election, Putin answered, "Yes I did, yes I did, because he talked about bringing the US-Russia relationship back to normal."
The rest of the summit was marked by Trump citing the numerous factors that he said had stood in the way of better relations between the United States and Russia, though Trump primarily blamed Democrats' bitterness over having lost an election that they should have won and the Mueller investigation.
Trump, focused on defending his own campaign for most of the summit, said, "That was a clean campaign. I beat Hillary Clinton easily."
The summit meeting concluded a weeklong European trip in which Mr. Trump disparaged NATO allies, criticized Germany, censured the British Prime Minister while visiting the UK, and branded the European Union a "foe" on trade, all while strongly affirming US-Russian ties and cordial relations with Putin.