Market week: Stocks rally on trade talks

Strong year-to-date gains

The big North American stock indices posted strong weekly gains on hopes that the U.S. and China will reach a trade agreement of some sort before the March 1 deadline. U.S. President Donald Trump’s declaration of a state of emergency as a tactic for funding a wall at the Mexican border didn’t have an impact on stock markets, as the S&P 500 Composite Index advanced 2.5% on the week, while the technology-weighted Nasdaq Composite Index rallied 2.4%. Toronto’s benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index gained 1.3% on the week, as the price of crude oil surged 5.8% on the week, boosting energy issues, which comprise about an 18% weighting on the index.

FUND NEWS

* BMO debuts asset allocation ETFs. BMO Asset Management announced on Feb. 15 the launch of three new risk-based asset allocation exchange traded funds (ETFs). BMO Conservative ETF (TSX: ZCON) aims for 60% fixed income and 40% equity; BMO Balanced ETF (TSX: ZBAL) targets 40% fixed income and 60% equity weighting; and BMO Growth ETF (TSX: ZGRO) has a 20% fixed income and 80% equity allocation.

Kevin Gopaul, Global Head of ETFs at BMO Global Asset Management, said, “The new asset allocation ETFs provide diversified exposures with quarterly rebalancing, which help investors stay in the market as a buy-and-hold strategy.”

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