Trading started on the wrong foot Monday, extending last week's losses for stocks, but a mid-week bounce and calm day of trading on Friday helped soothe the market. The DOW gain 33.18 points or +0.10%, to 34,798.00. The S&P 500 edged +0.15% higher to 4,455.48, and the NASDAQ shed 0.03% to close at 15,047.70.
All three major indexes were able to finish the stress-filled week in the green, with the DOW finishing the week +0.6% higher, while the S&P 500 ended it +0.51% higher and the NASDAQ eked out a small gain of +0.02%.
The cryptocurrency markets weren't as lucky as the People's Bank of China said in a Q&A that all crypto-related activities are illegal. Services offering trading, order matching, or derivatives for virtual currencies are strictly prohibited, the PBOC said, while overseas exchanges are also illegal.
Beijing has cracked down sharply on crypto this year. First, the Chinese government moved to stamp out digital currency mining, the energy-intensive operation that validates transactions and produces new coins. That led to a sharp slump in bitcoin's processing power as miners took their equipment offline.
Bitcoin is currently down over -10% for the week, with Ethereuem losing -13% and Litecoin is down -16%.
Key Levels To Watch Next Week:
- S&P 500 (CME:SP500): 4,535.38
- Dow (INDEX:DJI): 35,373.24
- NASDAQ (NASDAQ:COMP): 15,403.44
- U.S. Dollar (ICE:DX): 92.03
- Gold (NYMEX:GC.Z21): 1,769.70
- Crude Oil (NYMEX:CL.X21): 71.92
- Bitcoin (BITCOIN:BITSTAMPUSD): 52,956.47
Every Success,
Jeremy Lutz
INO.com and MarketClub.com
