US politics may keep investors wary

ONE should expect little inspiration to energise the local bourse at the start of the week with Wall Street posting its first weekly retreat in a month last week, capped by a lower close on Friday.

Pockets of concerns over potential political uncertainty in the US after President Donald Trump's shocking dismissal of the Federal Bureau of Investigation director James Comey could continue to weigh on investors' psyche. For now at least, pundits have shrugged off any such impact on corporates and, by extension, financial markets although prolonged anxiety over the episode won't augur well for markets, particularly if the turmoil distracts Mr Trump from implementing market-friendly measures such as tax cuts and infrastructure spending.

Soft economic data out of the world's largest economy and weak corporate earnings from brick-and-mortar retail giants that fuelled concerns over consumer spending led the Dow Jones Industrial Average to fall 0.1 per cent while the S&P 500 slipped 0.2 per cent last Friday; the Nasdaq Composite edged 0.1 per cent higher.