Stocks rose at the end of their best week in 2024 amid solid consumer sentiment data and bets that Donald Trump’s promises of tax cuts will further benefit corporations. Equities advanced for a fourth consecutive session with the S&P 500 hitting its 50th record this year. The gauge briefly topped the 6,000 mark and ultimately extended its weekly gain to 4.7%. A whopping $20 billion flowed into US equity funds on the day Trump claimed victory, the most in five months. Small caps—which are seen benefiting from Trump’s tariff threats—attracted the biggest inflow since March, though economists fear those tariffs, if enacted, could boomerang on the US economy to the tune of hundreds of billions of dollars. Here’s your markets wrap.
European Union leaders are trying to work out whether they will keep the Ukrainian war effort going if Trump decides to shut off US support (Trump has said he has a plan to end the conflict). Officials held discussions in Budapest on whether the bloc will be ready to foot the bill alone for Kyiv’s defense against Russia. Trump has often mused about having the US exit NATO altogether while praising Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin and threatening to leave some alliance members undefended if attacked.
