Despite being closed Monday in honor of the President’s Day holiday, stocks got off to a great start on Tuesday after being beaten down on a global economic slowdown. The S&P 500 rallied to its biggest two-session gain since August as investors piled into Financial and Technology stocks and sold off other “safer” asset classes such as gold and treasury bonds. Oil prices fell despite Saudi Arabia, Russia, Qatar and Venezuela saying they wouldn’t increase crude oil output above January levels. All three major indices closed the day more than 1% higher. The rally carried over into Wednesday partially due to a recovery in oil prices and positive economic data, which included an uptick in the Producer Price Index and positive industrial production data. Stocks fell for the first time in three sessions on Thursday due to tepid earnings and declines in Energy stocks. Investors remained apprehensive that global economic concerns could spill over into the U.S. Oil prices also fell as U.S. inventory data showed another increase in stockpiles of crude. Stocks finished mixed on Friday, the markets second-lowest volume day of the year, but positive for the week with the Dow, Nasdaq and S&P 500 all up more than 2.5% for the week. Friday’s drop came as an indication that investors still want to see more positive economic data before piling further into stocks.
