As the calendar turns to December, the key market drivers are very much the same as they have been for the past several months, while the economic recovery continues to be uneven. This is occurring as the pandemic hits new levels of concern in the U.S. and in many other parts of the world. Equity markets continue to look past the near-term issues and make new highs, based on optimism that additional stimulus will be provided and vaccines for COVID-19 will accelerate the economic recovery in the next several months.
This week, we get to hear from the Federal Reserve and Treasury about current and future fiscal stimulus. The path forward to get a stimulus deal is still very difficult given the partisanship in Washington. The November employment report will be released Friday and should show more jobs added last month, with a declining unemployment rate. Given all of the factors at play, markets should continue their current trends for the remainder of the year as a surprise is unlikely to occur before year-end.
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