Stocks Up Again, New Yearly Highs For The S&P And Nasdaq

Stocks closed higher yesterday with all of the major indexes solidly in the green.

Traders remain focused on the strong economy, the fantastic jobs market, the accommodative Fed, and the continued optimism for an eventual U.S.-China trade deal.

At the moment, the market is expecting President Trump and President Xi to meet face-to-face sometime in April for what will presumably be a 'signing ceremony'.

However, there have been some reports that the meeting between the two leaders may actually get pushed out to June. By all accounts, the talks have been going well. But if the meeting is pushed out yet again (deadline was supposed to be March 1st; then extended to accommodate a mid-March meeting; then pushed out to April; and now maybe as far out as June), it will be interesting to see how the market reacts.

As long as the narrative coming out of the meetings, from both sides, is about progress, then the market should remain positive regardless of the delay. But if the delays are accompanied by talk of difficulty, or an impasse, then things could get a little bumpy. But even then, as long as the negotiations continue, that's a positive sign.

For now, the market is still anticipating an April meeting.

As for the Fed, they meet this week. In fact, their two-day FOMC meeting begins today and concludes tomorrow with their FOMC Announcement, FOMC Forecasts, and Fed Chair Press Conference.

But traders are literally giving a zero percent chance of a rate hike! So the accommodative monetary policy looks set to continue.

And that's bullish for stocks.

See you tomorrow,

Kevin Matras

Executive Vice President, Zacks Investment Research

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