Global stock indices calmly digest the first week of Donald Trump’s return to the White House on Friday, while earnings season is in full swing.
In Europe, Paris took 0.44% and Milan 0.24%. Frankfurt remained in reserve (-0.08%), while London fell further (-0.73%).
On Wall Street, the main indices are moving without direction: around 4:50 p.m. GMT, the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 gained 0.07%, while the Dow Jones lost 0.11%.
“Overall, the week was rich in positive developments” with “a feeling of realism from the Trump cabinet”, inaugurated Monday as President of the United States, summarized Florian Ielpo, head of macroeconomic research for Lombard Odier IM.
There was “a small wave of relief, because the customs measures are currently neither very clear nor very concrete”, explains Céline Weill-Alliel, manager at Uzès Gestion, to AFP.
The US president said late Thursday he would prefer not to impose tariffs on China, a seemingly abrupt reversal after his repeated promises to hit the United States’ biggest economic rival with heavy import taxes.
Asked whether he could strike a deal with Chinese leader Xi Jinping on Taiwan and trade, Trump responded in an interview with Fox News: “I would rather not have to use (tariffs) ). But it’s enormous power over China.”
After taking office on Monday, Mr. Trump had already toned down his threats, mentioning a 10% increase on Chinese imports from February 1, far from the 60% taxes promised until then during his electoral campaign.
The dollar is weighed down by these developments, with investors counting on lower inflation in the United States, which should facilitate the Fed’s rate cut. Around 4:50 p.m. GMT, the greenback fell 0.93% against the single European currency, to 1.0512 dollars per euro.
On the bond side, the American ten-year bond is at 4.61%, compared to 4.64% the day before at closing.
Rain of results
The markets are following with interest the results season which is gaining momentum this week in Europe and the United States.
The British luxury group Burberry, which began an “emergency” refocusing on its emblematic products in November to try to resolve its difficulties, reported a decline in its sales for its delayed third quarter, but less than this. what the market predicted.
-In London, the stock soared 9.53%. It led to other luxury stocks in Europe: in Paris, LVMH gained 1.87%, Hermès 0.87%, L’Oréal 1.10%, Christian Dior 1.35% and Kering 4.49%. . In Zurich, Moncler gained 3.02%. In Milan, Salvatore Ferragamo offered 4.38%.
Ericsson AB presented fourth quarter results lower than analysts’ forecasts, which caused the stock to fall by 12.72% in Stockholm.
The electronics specialist Texas Instrument fell sharply (-6.28%) on the Nasdaq, after profit forecasts for 2025 considered disappointing for investors.
To be continued next week: the results of several behemoths, such as LVMH in Paris on Tuesday and Meta, Microsoft and Tesla on Wall Street on Wednesday.
Monte dei Paschi: surprise offer of 13 billion euros
The Italian bank Monte dei Paschi di Siena (MPS) fell 6.91% in Milan after announcing the launch of a purchase offer for the Mediobanca bank (an OPE), valuing the latter at 13.3 billion ‘euros. Mediobanca took 7.72%.
Novo Nordisk passes the test
Danish pharmaceutical giant Novo Nordisk climbed 7.13% in Copenhagen, after announcing positive preliminary clinical trial results for its anti-obesity drug based on amycretin.
Oil hesitates
Oil prices are moving without a clear direction. Around 4:40 p.m. GMT, the price of a barrel of American WTI lost 0.14% to $74.51 and that of Brent from the North Sea lost 0.10% to $78.37.
Bitcoin lost 0.65%, to $106,159.
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