NEW YORK: As September's surge fades into a fond memory, the question for the US stock market is: Now what?
The market shook off the summer doldrums last month, breaking out of a stubborn trading range and giving investors the second-best September on record with a gain of 8.8 percent on the S&P 500. It also racked up its best quarter in a year.
The strength of that momentum will be tested next week by a round of economic data, including the much-watched non-farm payrolls report, as well as the start of third-quarter earnings season. The S&P has also been bumping up against a technical resistance level that could spark further gains if the index breaks through it.
Trading has been in a tight range the past week as the quarter wound down and the muted action could continue in the lead up to the employment report on Friday.
"People are still exhibiting a lot of fear in their investment decisions, with so much money flowing into bond funds and Treasuries, that any uptick in economic data could catch investors off guard," said Michael O'Rourke, chief market strategist at BTIG LLC in New York.
The market shook off the summer doldrums last month, breaking out of a stubborn trading range and giving investors the second-best September on record with a gain of 8.8 percent on the S&P 500. It also racked up its best quarter in a year.
The strength of that momentum will be tested next week by a round of economic data, including the much-watched non-farm payrolls report, as well as the start of third-quarter earnings season. The S&P has also been bumping up against a technical resistance level that could spark further gains if the index breaks through it.
Trading has been in a tight range the past week as the quarter wound down and the muted action could continue in the lead up to the employment report on Friday.
"People are still exhibiting a lot of fear in their investment decisions, with so much money flowing into bond funds and Treasuries, that any uptick in economic data could catch investors off guard," said Michael O'Rourke, chief market strategist at BTIG LLC in New York.
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