Wall Street barely avoided disaster this week, as the Dow fell below even for 2015. The Greece saga sent the markets to their worst day of 2015 on Monday, as the Dow lost 350 points. Investors certainly weren’t sorry to see this week end one day early…
***DOW DOWN 216 POINTS THIS WEEK
Monday was the worst day of 2015 for the major indices, as it became clear that Greece would miss its scheduled payment to the International Monetary Fund the next day. Fears of a Greek exit from the Euro Zone clobbered markets worldwide, including those here in the U.S. Both the Dow and S&P 500 fell into the negative for the year. For the day, the Dow lost 350 points.
Tuesday the Dow attempted a rally, but it was cut short when the official deadline for Greece’s payment to the International Monetary Fund came and went. A 100-point recovery was wiped out by mid-day, as investors took the last day of June as a chance to ‘get out’ of certain positions. By the end of the day, the Dow was able to post a small gain of 23 points.
Wednesday stocks jumped off positive private payroll numbers. The Greek saga continued, with both sides determining they’d cut off negotiations until after the weekend’s referendum. After posting a loss for the 1st half of 2015, the Dow got off to a good 2nd half start, gaining 138 points.
Thursday investors switched their focus from Greece to a mildly disappointing jobs report. The economy added about 12,000 fewer jobs than expected in June. That was enough to put a stop to the two-day rally, as the Dow was down 27 points for the day.