TACO Trade Shifts to the US Dollar
Reports that President Trump has dialled down his threats related to firing Fed Chair Powell has sparked a rally in the US Dollar, suggesting that concerns about the independence of the Fed had been weighing in the currency. Gold is down 0.9%, the Aussie is down 1.0%, the Euro, Loonie and Yen are all down […]
Mixed Reaction to Day 2 of Earnings and Inflation Reports
Wednesday morning finds US index futures divided between a 0.2% gain for Dow Futures and a 0.2% loss for NASDAQ futures. In Europe today the DAX is up 0.5% and the FTSE is up 0.3%. Energy action is mixed with Crude Oil down 1.0% following a big build of 19.1 mmbbls in US API weekly […]
Markets Digest Earnings and Inflation Numbers
US markets are climbing this morning as earnings season gets underway led by a 0.6% gain for NASDAQ futures. Dow futures, European indices including the DAX, CAC, and FTSE, and commodities like Crude Oil and Copper are all quiet this morning. In currency action, Bitcoin is down 2.4%, while Gold is up 0.2%. Economic data […]
Tariff Rollout Continues; New High for Bitcoin; Earnings Season Starts
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 […]
Stocks Stumble as Trump Ramps Up Tariff Threats
Last night, President Trump announced plans to launch a 35% tariff against Canada starting August 1st, sending shockwaves through world markets. Trump has also been talking about a 50% tariff against Brazil bolstering recent threats against BRICS countries and their allies. With fears growing that the EU could potentially be next on his hit list, […]
Copper Remains Active Around Tariff News
In the face of President Trump continuing to ramp up his tariff threats, including announcing a 50% tariff on copper, raising steel and aluminum tariffs, indicating that a 200% tariff on drugs could be on the way, and suggesting he may target other specific industries; equity markets have remained resilient. Overnight, the Nikkei rose 0.3%, […]
Markets Digest Growing Tariff Threats
Yesterday, President Trump sent out letters to 14 countries, headlined by Japan and South Korea, threatening to raise tariffs starting on August 1st if new trade deals are not reached by then. This news knocked US indices down 0.8%-0.9% and put pressure on markets sensitive to the health of the global economy, particularly Copper. Today finds […]
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 […]
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 […]