|

Flip flop policies play against US, favour global peers [Video]

Donald Trump paused tariffs imposed on Canadian and Mexican imports two days after imposing 25% levies on its biggest trade partners’ products amid sanguine market reaction and resistance from trade partners. Beyond the politicians who refused to surrender, Walmart’s Chinese suppliers reportedly refused to take on a 10% price cut on their products while Europe is looking to replace Elon Musk’s Starlink in Ukraine by a European alternative, the French satellite operator Eutelsat, to make sure not to give the communication capabilities into the hands of a no-ally-anymore. Eutelsat’s stock price gained more than 500% in just a week. The European defense stocks consolidate gains near ATH levels as the European countries agreed to spend EUR 800bn for strengthening their defense and security. On top, the European Central Bank (ECB) delivered another 25bp cut at yesterday’s meeting, as expected, but hinted that the rate cutting cycle could gently be coming to an end after six rate cuts as inflation is approaching their 2% policy target. The EURUSD is on a bullish trend while selloff in the US barely affects appetite in Europe.

Anyway, this morning, the market mood is a little bit better for the US equity futures. Broadcom jumped nearly 13% in the afterhours trading after announcing better-than-expected quarterly results and after giving a strong forecast. All eyes are on the US jobs data due later today.

Author

Ipek Ozkardeskaya

Ipek Ozkardeskaya

Swissquote Bank Ltd

Ipek Ozkardeskaya began her financial career in 2010 in the structured products desk of the Swiss Banque Cantonale Vaudoise. She worked in HSBC Private Bank in Geneva in relation to high and ultra-high-net-worth clients.

More from Ipek Ozkardeskaya
Share:

Editor's Picks

EUR/USD clings to gains around 1.1800

EUR/USD manages to regain composure and retests the 1.1800 region in quite a positive start to the week. The pair’s bounce follows the US Dollar’s offered stance post-SCOTUS ruling ahead of important US data and Fedspeak on Tuesday.

GBP/USD treads water near 1.3500 as BoE-Fed divergence debate stalls

GBP/USD spent Monday spinning in place as market participants await a fresh catalyst to break the pair out of its recent range. The BoE's February hold came with a surprisingly dovish 5-4 split, and UK Consumer Price Index data last week showed inflation easing to 3.0%, reinforcing the case for earlier rate cuts, with most economists now looking to April or March for the next move. 

Gold climbs above $5,200 on geopolitical tensions, trade uncertainty

Gold price jumps to around $5,230 during the early Asian session on Tuesday. The rally of the precious metal is bolstered by heightened geopolitical tensions and global trade uncertainty following US tariff decisions. Traders brace for the US January Producer Price Index report on Friday for fresh impetus. 

Solana DeFi platform Step Finance to close operations following treasury hack

The Solana based decentralized finance platform Step Finance announced it will end all operations effective immediately following a breach that drained its treasury.

Supreme Court nixes tariffs, Trump teases 15% global tariff

On February 20th, the Supreme Court ruled that Trump’s global tariffs under IEEPA authority were unconstitutional, effectively nullifying the framework. However, the relief was short-lived. Within hours, Trump floated a 15% blanket tariff under an alternative legal authority.

XRP recovers slightly as bearish sentiment dominates crypto market

Ripple is rising above $1.40 at the time of writing on Monday amid fresh tariff-triggered headwinds in the broader cryptocurrency market. The sell-off to $1.33, the token’s intraday low, can be attributed to macroeconomic uncertainty, geopolitical tensions and risk-averse sentiment among other factors.