Wall Street happy with slower inflation

Cooler US inflation continues to lend support to US stocks, while the good news was thin on the ground in today's fiscal statement, says Chris Beauchamp, Chief Market Analyst at online trading platform IG.

Wall Street cheered by weaker inflation

Inflation remains MIA according to today’s data, despite fears that tariff impacts would begin to show up in the figures. US stocks were higher in the wake of the news, which helped to banish the US-China talks from everyone’s minds. The talks ended today with no real change to the Geneva agreement, reinforcing the view that the whole tariff drama has been mostly performative. 55% tariffs on Chinese goods are not to be sniffed at however, but how much of this will be mitigated by some fancy shipping footwork remains to be seen.

Reeves sets out her stall

The Chancellor attempted to strike a much more upbeat tone in today’s statement, though it’s hard when there’s so little to give away. She seems to have kept markets happy with pledges to invest in the economy, but this is another of those UK fiscal updates that illustrates how Britain is very much a prisoner of events beyond her control, like tariffs.