Modest recovery follows weak week
US stock index futures were all firmer in early trade this morning, recovering a proportion of Friday’s losses. The majors ended last week on the backfoot as investors chose to pare their risk exposure ahead of the weekend. This came after President Trump unleashed a clutch of tariff threats, primarily focused at northern and southern neighbours, Canada and Mexico. These were postponed within hours of being announced as both countries promised to boost security at their US borders. But the additional 10% tariff on US imports from China did go ahead. China has instigated retaliatory tariffs on US imports starting today. Over the weekend, President Trump announced blanket tariffs on all imports of aluminium and steel, along with reciprocal tariffs on any country placing levies on imports from the US. All this uncertainty contributed to a negative week for all four major US stock indices. This was compounded by Friday’s Non-Farm Payroll update which came in weaker than anticipated. Average Hourly Wages came in well above forecasts, and on top of this, the University of Michigan’s Inflation Expectations survey jumped unexpectedly. This increased concerns that inflation in returning as an important issue. There’s evidence of renewed upside pressure, and all measures remain significantly above the Federal Reserve’s 2% target. This has led to another shift in rate cut expectations. According to the CME’s FedWatch Tool, the odds now favour just one 25 basis point rate cut this year. This week brings important inflation updates with the CPI and PPI on Wednesday and Thursday respectively. In addition, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell will testify before Congress tomorrow and on Wednesday. Despite some disappointing results from a few tech giants, this has been a strong earnings season, with earnings growth coming in at its best rate for four years.
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The information and publications are not meant to be, and do not constitute, financial, investment, trading, or other types of advice or recommendations supplied or endorsed by TradingView. Read more in the Terms of Use.