President Donald Trump is expected to peg his case for a second term in the White House to the success of the stock market and economy, according to a number of reports.
On Wednesday, CNBC, citing sources familiar, reported that the 45th president is attempting to accelerate the completion of a trade deal with China, in an effort to help provide a fresh catalyst for markets.
The report comes after Bloomberg News said Trump has been increasingly aware that progress between Beijing and Washington has helped to extend a bullish stock market run that is on the verge of ushering in record for its length since putting in a crisis-era low on March 9, 2009.
A White House spokeswoman declined to comment on the reports claiming that Trump wanted to expedite a China trade pact to help further boost the stock market.
In recent months, the Sino-American trade dispute has been among the chief reasons for uncertainty in the market, arguably contributing to most of the declines and potentially impeding business decisions over the course of the yearlong tariff spat.
Perhaps, more than any other president, Trump has hitched his political success to that of the performance of the equity market.
Since Trump’s stunning defeat of Democratic challenger Hillary Clinton, the Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, -0.37% has gained 40.3%, the S&P 500 index SPX, -0.45% has climbed nearly 30%, while the technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index COMP, -0.73% has enjoyed a whopping 45% return, as of late-morning Wednesday trade, according to FactSet data.
Markets took a tumble in later part of 2018, however, which culminated in the worst Christmas Eve performance for the main benchmark’s on record, according to Dow Jones Market Data.
That decline has been attributed to a combination of anxieties about trade negotiations and a Federal Reserve that had appeared dogmatic in its approach to normalizing monetary policy, even as the market’s gains withered.
Since that December low, however, stocks have catapulted higher, with the Nasdaq climbing 22%, the S&P 500 advancing 18.2% and the Dow returning 18.1%, on the belief of that the Fed would pause its rate-hike plans and that an agreement between Washington and Beijing would be achieved sooner than later.
It is worth noting that Trump has been vocal critic of the Fed, arguing that the central bank’s rate-hike agenda threatened at undoing all the progress he had made on the business
However, a lack of fresh developments on the China trade front has coincided with listless markets that have mostly gone trade.
The Wall Street Journal on Sunday reported that Trump and Chinese leader President Xi Jinping are working on a summit that would take place in Mar-a-Lago, Florida, at the end of this month that might be the final stages of trade discussions.
At least one major sticking point, is enforcement of an agreement, according to WSJ.
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