July 20, Market Update

Stocks finished a range-bound Friday session little changed, shrugging off potentially rattling comments from President Trump. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite both lost 0.1%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average finished unchanged. Friday's stumble left the S&P 500 flat for the week.

In a CNBC interview aired on Friday morning, President Trump said he is ready to put tariffs on $500 billion worth of Chinese goods -- approximately the entire amount of goods shipped to the U.S. from China in 2017. Later, in a tweet, the president doubled down on his criticism of the Fed, saying rate hikes hurt what his administration has accomplished, and reiterated his concern over a strengthening dollar.
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The U.S. Dollar Index tumbled 0.8% to 94.20 in response to the president's comments, retreating from a 12-month high.
In the bond market, Treasuries sold off in a curve-steepening trade, with the 2-yr yield climbing one basis point to 2.60% and the 10-yr yield climbing five basis points to 2.90%. Some analysts saw the increased 2-10 spread as a sign that investors believe President Trump's criticism of the Fed could slow down the pace of rate hikes.
The S&P 500 tested the 2800 level several times on Friday, but it held through each attempt, with the low of the day coming in at 2800.01.

Source: Briefing.com
Graph: Google Finance