Growing Tariff Threats Rattle World Markets
World stock markets have stabilized from Friday’s declines as traders await the next developments in the ongoing tariff war between the US and everyone else. With the three-month moratorium ending on Wednesday, the White House has indicated that letters should start going out today to trade partners threatening to bring back the higher tariffs on […]
Holiday Hangover as Focus Turns Back to Tariffs
Boosted by a strong US nonfarm payrolls report US equities surged into an early close heading into today’s Independence Day holiday, with major indices posting gains of 0.7% to 1.0%. After markets closed, President Trump’s ‘Big Bill’ passed Congress, and with US traders having left for the long weekend stocks appear to have paused for […]
Stocks Soar on Strong US Job Numbers
Both US Nonfarm Payrolls (147K vs Street 110K) and US weekly jobless claims (233K vs Street 240K) have come in better than expected, sparking a rally in US index futures, which are now up 0.2%-0.3%, heading into tomorrow’s US Independence Day holiday. In other news, Trump’s ‘Big Bill’ continues to move toward a final vote […]
ADP Payrolls Add to a String of Disappointing Data
July is off to a choppy start so far for the stock markets. On Tuesday, US indices finished with a 0.8% loss for the NASDAQ and a 0.9% gain for the Dow. This morning finds US index futures trading between -0.2% and +0.1%, while in Europe the FTSE is down 0.1% and the DAX is […]
Stocks Rally as Trade Talks Get Back on Track
The last day of the month and quarter finds US indices taking another run at all time highs, with US index futures up 0.5%-0.7%. News that Canada has dropped the digital services tax on US companies, which was supposed to kick in today, has been greeted warmly, as it enables trade talks to resume. Overseas […]
Fear Subsides on Reports of Iran Talks
Amid reports of potential talks between European leaders and Iran, and the White House suggesting that the US may take a couple of weeks to decide whether to launch an attack against Iran, investors appear to be dialling down their defensive postures. The price of Brent Crude Oil is down 3.2% this morning while Gold […]
Stocks Slide Amid Central Bank Decisions
US exchanges are closed for the Juneteenth holiday, but that has not stopped traders from reacting to political and monetary developments. Overseas markets are down in overnight trading with Hang Seng losing 2.0%, the Nikkei sliding 1.0%, the DAX dropping 0.6%, and the FTSE falling 0.4%. US index futures are down 0.4%-0.6% ahead of closing […]
Markets Stabilize as Focus Turns to Central Banks
There were no major new developments in the Middle East overnight, so investors’ focus has now turned to central banks with three interest rate decisions due over the next 24 hours. The Fed is expected to announce that it is holding the Fed Funds rate steady at 4.50% at 2:00 pm EDT, leaving investors to […]
War Concerns Weigh on Investor Sentiment
Fears that the war in the Middle East could escalate further appear to be weighing on world markets this morning after President Trump left the G7 summit early and issued an online warning telling people to get out of Tehran. This morning finds US index futures down about 0.4% while in Europe the Dax is […]
Markets Digest War Developments; G7 and Fed Meet This Week
Clawing back some of Friday’s 1.1%-1.8% US index losses, US index futures are up 0.6% to 0.8% this morning. The price of Gold is down 0.5%, the price of Oil is down 1.1% and the price of Bitcoin is up 1.4%. This action suggests that some of the fear which gripped markets when the Israel-Iran […]