Much of the focus of investors has been on change in and related to the United States since President Trump returned to office in January. There have been developments on government spending, tariffs, the Ukraine War, international relations, domestic issues and more, capped off by President Trump’s speech to Congress last night.
Today, the focus has turned to Germany, where the incoming centre-right coalition has indicated plans for a number of budget and other reforms, including changes to their debt brake, and increases to spending in infrastructure and defense. The Dax is up 3.2% on this news today, while the Euro is up 0.75%, adding to yesterday’s rally. In other parts of Europe, Milan is up 2.6%, Paris is up 2.1% and London is up 0.5%.
US index futures are trading flat to up 0.3% with NASDAQ futures the strongest. Stocks stateside appear to be stabilizing coming off of yesterday’s 0.3% to 1.5% major index losses. Reports that the US may be open to talking about tariffs with Canada and Mexico and the potential revival of a minerals deal with Ukraine appear to be helping ease recent fears.
US ADP private sector payrolls were surprisingly disappointing (77K vs street 140K), as were Service PMI numbers from the UK and Germany. US ISM Services PMI (street 60.0) and US factory orders (street 1.6%) are due at 10:00 am EST.
Crude Oil continues to struggle this morning, down 2.1%. Copper is surging with a 4.4% gain. Gold is steady, while Silver is up 1.4%. Cryptocurrencies are bouncing back with Bitcoin up 2.1%.