Stock Market Suffers a Marginal Hit Due to Jobs Report and Syrian Strikes

The United States have seen a very eventful past week with two major events headlining the past seven days. First, it was the release of the jobs report, which showed relatively negative figures, coming in much lower than the forecasts by most industry examiners.

And then came the Syrian strikes. After news broke out that there had been a deadly chemical attack in Syria, in which more than 80 people had been brutally murdered, President Trump decided that it was time to take action and released 59 Tomahawk missiles on the air base from which Syrian planes had taken off earlier to bomb the villages.

This marked the first direct involvement of the United States within the Syrian region since 2011. The effects of these were felt by the stock market as the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell by around 6.85 points to close at 20,656.10.

The leading gainers in the stock market were Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and Boeing Co., whereas Walt Disney Co. weighed by the average. The Standard and Poor’s 500 also took a small dip of 1.95 points while the NASDAQ composite index finished at a deficit of 1.14 points.

Labor Department Highlights Number of New Jobs

The Labor Department released a comprehensive report highlighting the statistic that more than 98,000 jobs had been created within the country in the month of March. This marked the smallest gain throughout the year, presumably caused due to the changes in the weather and the changes being made in different industries. Economists had expected that it was likely to be an increase of around 185,000 non-farming jobs.

The Chief Investment Officer of Cornerstone Financial Partners stated that this was pretty disappointing news that came well below the general expectations. He went on to say that the job figures had generally been pretty low, so it was much easier to overlook the results for the month of March, but that it was a clear negative sign, and it was also a sign of risk, which meant that economists had to be a bit more cautious when making observations in the future.

While the report may have come as a disappointment to some people, most were already expecting the market to slow down the number of hires made as the March weather takes a turn for the worse. However, the unemployment rate fell and companies that offer guarantor loans also stated that the burden had begun to decrease on the average consumer. Many banks and private lending institutions that specialize in such loans and similar products ended the week on a high note.

Expected Moves in the Near Future

The market is unlikely to see major changes in the future. Since the US has already been at war since 9/11, it’s unlikely that the market will be severely affected by the military initiatives being taken in Syria. It’s highly expected that the US will increase its participation in the war against the Syrian regime, though it remains to be seen how Russia will react.

The reaction by Russia is likely to be one of the major factors that will influence the direction of the stock market. At the moment, though, it can be said that the US is in steady waters. Importantly, officials have stated that they don’t believe that the economic boost that Trump promised before coming into power would come into effect any time before 2018, especially considering the pace at which major changes are taking place within the country. Even 2018 is a conservative estimate as the Feds wait to see what will happen in the next few months.