Here’s President Trump’s stock-market scorecard after 2 years in office

President Donald Trump has often taken credit for how well stocks do, inadvertently turning equities into a proxy report card for his presidency. But as Trump begins his third year in office, the stock market is sending mixed signals on some of his signature policies, including a protracted trade war with China.

Jan. 20 marked two full years since the real estate mogul and the reality TV star was sworn in as president. In that time, stocks have rallied to records, making him among the most successful Republican presidents when judged by market gains. In fact, the Nasdaq soared 29% since January 2017, marking the tech-centric index’s best rally under a Republican president, according to Dow Jones Market Data.

Read: Political drama is putting a lid on the stock market, Goldman analysts say

But a rough 2018 dented Trump’s two-year performance, which for the S&P 500 left him with the 10th best percentage gain of 23 presidents, going back to Herbert Hoover, and the fifth best performance out of 11 Republican presidents, the data show.

Between Jan. 20, 2018 to Jan. 18 this year, the S&P 500














SPX, -1.72%












fell 4.97% compared with average gains of 5.43% during a similar time frame while the Dow Jones Industrial Average














DJIA, -1.57%












 shed 5.24% versus a rise of 5.48% and the Nasdaq














COMP, -2.20%












 dropped 2.44%, sharply underperforming the average advance of 6.87%.

A combination of concerns about the Federal Reserve raising interest rates and Trump’s handling of trade negotiations with China has been blamed in part for taking a toll on a market that otherwise benefited from a robust economy, deregulatory efforts and a large corporate tax cut, underscoring the dramatic contrast in its fortunes from one year to the next as the following data show.

Dow

Second year in office (-5.24%):

• 5th worst percentage loss for a Republican president (out of 17)
• 9th worst percentage loss for any president (out of 31)
• The worst second year in office (regardless of term) for a president since Bush from 2002 – 2003

First two years (+25.21%):

• 6th best percentage gain for a Republican president (out of 17)
• 11th best percentage gain for any president (out of 31)
• The best first two years in office (regardless of term) for a Republican president since Reagan from 1985 – 1987
• The best first two years in office (regardless of term) for a president since Obama from 2013 – 2015

S&P 500

Second year in office (-4.97%):

• 4th worst percentage loss for a Republican president (out of 11)
• 8th worst percentage loss for any president (out of 23)
• The worst second year in office (regardless of term) for a president since Bush from 2002-2003

First two years (+17.98%):

• 5th best percentage gain for a Republican president (out of 11)
• 10th best percentage gain for any president (out of 23)
• The best first two years in office (regardless of term) for a Republican president since Bush from 2005 – 2007
• The best first two years in office (regardless of term) for a president since Obama from 2013 – 2015

Nasdaq

Second year in office (-2.44%):

• 4th worst percentage loss for a Republican president (out of 7)
• 5th worst percentage loss for any president (out of 12)
• The worst second year in office (regardless of term) for a president since Bush from 2002-2003

First two years (+29.19%):

• 2nd best percentage gain for a Republican president (out of 7)
• 5th best percentage gain for any president (out of 12)
• The best first two years in office (regardless of term) for a Republican president since Reagan from 1985 – 1987
• The best first two years in office (of a first term) for a Republican president on record
• The best first two years in office (regardless of term) for a president since Obama from 2013 – 2015

Stocks have partially recovered from the gut-wrenching selloff in late 2018 to punch higher in January. But it will be difficult for equities to reclaim the glory days of Trump’s first year with the global economy starting to show signs of fatigue while corporate earnings growth have slowed. Fears of a prolonged trade tensions with key trading partner China as well as the fallout from the partial government shutdown might also cap the market’s upside for now.

Read: Why investors are starting to pay attention to the government shutdown

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