Stuck in a trading range - for now

FRIDAY'S unexpected US military strike against Syria reminded markets of the importance of factoring in geopolitical risk when making investment assessments. The mediocre payrolls report, in the meantime, reminded markets that maybe the United States economy isn't on the firm footing that everyone assumes.

If the first reminder suggests stocks could come under pressure, the second implies that maybe there will really only be one more interest rate hike this year. Put both together and the likely outcome is that markets will remain within a trading range - for now.

The Syrian missile strike, coming at a time when China's leader Xi Jinping was visiting the US, suggested to some observers that the Donald Trump administration was taking the opportunity to signal it was prepared to get equally tough with North Korea, whose government Beijing supports.