Adding to Friday’s losses, US index futures are down 0.3%-0.4% to start the week. Over the weekend, the EU and Mexico joined the Trump tariff parade as he announced 30% tariffs as set to start on August 1st. Tariffs helped the US to record a surprise budget surplus for June so there appears to be incentive to push forward more aggressively with tariffs.
Over in Europe, continental markets like the DAX and CAC are down 0.8% and 0.4% respectively. With the UK having reached a trade deal with the US already, the FTSE is up 0.4%. Energy markets are rallying today with Crude Oil up 1.5% and Natural Gas up 3.3%. Metals are mixed with Gold up 0.2%, Silver up 1.0%, Copper down 1.4% and Platinum down 0.9%.
With cryptocurrency legislation and regulation moving up to the top of the agenda for Congress this week, and the potential for more mainstream adoption, Bitcoin has broken out over $120,000 this morning with a 2.3% gain.
China announced a larger than expected trade surplus ($114B vs Street $109B), and it announces GDP and retail sales tomorrow. Tuesday also brings US and Canada consumer prices, followed by US producer prices on Wednesday and US retail sales on Thursday.
Earnings season in the US gets underway tomorrow, with several big banks including JPMorgan Chase reporting results, and ramps up from there. Headliners later in the week include Goldman Sachs on Wednesday, Netflix* and GE Aerospace* on Thursday, and American Express on Friday.
*Shares of Netflix and GE Aerospace are held in portfolios managed by SIA Wealth Management.