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Sectors like banking and energy were in focus amid hopes that Trump’s policies would stimulate growth, while traders were also encouraged by reports that the 47th US President won’t impose new tariffs on his first day in office, as promised during his campaign, that could have disrupted trade flows.
US stock futures rise on Martin Luther King Jr Day holiday
Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed by 166 points, or 0.4%. S&P 500 futures gained 0.4%, and Nasdaq-100 futures rose 0.6% as regular trading on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and Nasdaq was halted for the Martin Luther King Jr Day holiday.
Investors are anticipating a wave of executive orders from Trump 2.0 that could significantly affect the economy. A key order anticipated from the Trump administration will likely avoid imposing tariffs immediately but will focus on starting probes into what Trump has called unfair trade practices by China, Canada, and Mexico, as well as scrutinising currency policies.
European equity markets advance
The delay in the introduction of new tariffs buoyed European equity markets, with the pan-European STOXX 600 index advancing 0.3% and major European indices rising by about 0.5%. MSCI’s All-World index was up 0.4%.
The US dollar weakened on Monday, plunging to the day’s low of 1.3% so far, with particularly sharp losses against the Canadian dollar, Mexican peso, euro, and Chinese yuan.
Trump had previously threatened to impose tariffs of up to 10% on global imports, including a 60% tariff on Chinese goods and a 25% surcharge on Canadian and Mexican products.
Bitcoin hits all-time high of $109,072
In cryptocurrency markets, Bitcoin reached an all-time high of $109,072 today. The digital asset has gained more than 10% so far this month.
Trump’s newly launched cryptocurrency, known as $TRUMP, saw a meteoric rise, hitting a market value of nearly $12 billion and attracting billions in trading volume.
Meanwhile, First Lady Melania Trump’s cryptocurrency launched just a day later, reached a market cap of $1.9 billion.
In commodities, gold saw a slight uptick, rising by 0.2% to $2,708 an ounce. However, crude oil prices took a hit, with Brent crude futures falling 1.2% to $79.82 and US crude dropping 1.6% to $76.62.
Expectations are rising that Trump may ease sanctions on Russia’s energy sector in exchange for a potential truce in the ongoing Ukraine conflict.