Trump he's back to hitting the button duties, pointing the finger yesterday at imports of pharmaceuticals and semiconductors. But at the moment investors are not paying much attention to it and are instead looking at the developments of the situation in Ukraine, with some analysts fearing that Trump's rush to impose an end to the war will lead to unbalanced peace agreements with Putin that could alter the geopolitical scenario. The way European equity is the one that benefits most from the prospect of peace, marking new records yesterday, with titles relating to the front row defense. After so many records today could be the right day to take profits that are starting to be sold in Asia and could continue on the European stock exchanges.
Wall Street closes little moved. Fed minutes expected today
The New York Stock Exchange was calm yesterday, with the Dow Jones which stood at 44.556 points, while the S&P-500 jumps 0,24%, reaching 6.130 points. Moderately up is the Nasdaq 100 (+0,23%) and on parity is the S&P 100 (-0,02%). Among the best performances to be reported Intel (+ 16,06%), Nike (+ 6,23%), Dow (+ 2,72%) and Honeywell International (+2,61%), Modern (+ 8,37%)
The following are expected later today minutes of the january meeting Fed, where the U.S. central bank held interest rates at 4,25%-4,5%, will be offset by hawkish comments from Fed Chairman Jerome Powell in congressional testimony last week and consumer price data.
Tariffs on cars, semiconductors and drugs
Donald Trump declared last night that he will probably impose duties on imports of auto, semiconductors e drugs of about 25%, suggesting a final announcement could come as early as April. On drugs and chips, Trump has suggested that tariffs will rise significantly above 25% over the course of the year. The new duties are expected to take effect as early as April 2. The 25% tariffs he previously announced on steel and aluminum are expected to come in March. “I’ll probably tell you April 2, but it’ll be somewhere around 25%,” Trump told reporters Tuesday at his Mar-a-Lago club when asked about the tariffs on auto. On imports of drug, he said: “It will be 25% and more, and it will go up significantly over the course of a year.” Shares of Toyota Motor Corp. and Honda Motor Co. shares fell after Trump's comments.
Keep an eye on developments in the situation in Ukraine
On the geopolitical front, US and Russian officials met for a first round of talks on the war in Ukraine and raised the possibility of broader cooperation. Secretary of State Marco Rubio told European allies that the United States would keep sanctions on Russia in place at least until a deal is reached to end the conflict in Ukraine. But some analysts are wary. Trump’s rush to force an end to Russia’s war in Ukraine has fueled fears that a peace deal with Putin could compromise the security of Kiev and Europe and alter the geopolitical landscape. When Russian President Vladimir Putin launched an invasion of Ukraine nearly three years ago, then-U.S. President Joe Biden took a firm stand in solidarity with Kiev, built a bulwark of European allies and tasked veteran advisers with isolating Moscow economically and diplomatically.
Washington’s approach has changed dramatically since the first meeting between U.S. and Russian negotiators on Tuesday. European politicians accused Trump of making gratuitous concessions to Moscow last week by ruling out Ukraine’s membership in NATO and saying it was an illusion for Kiev to believe it could regain the 20% of its territory now under Russian control. Some critics condemned Trump for what they said amounted to an accommodation. Ukraine’s exclusion from Tuesday’s meeting marked a sharp departure from Biden and NATO’s “nothing about Ukraine without Ukraine” mantra. Kiev has said it will not accept any deal imposed without its consent.
And the absence of European representatives has heightened concerns among U.S. allies that Trump might be willing to give up too much in exchange for too little from Putin. That has helped push European governments to discuss sending peacekeeping troops to support a possible deal on Ukraine. Trump told reporters on Tuesday that he would have no objection to such a deployment, although Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Moscow would not accept the presence of NATO troops, indicating that Russia could oppose any major compromise.
Asia: Hong Kong tech firms benefit
The stock market calms down Hong Kong after several sessions of strong increases: the Hang Seng index is at -0,4% after +14,3% since the beginning of the year. Baidu loses -5% after the release of the quarterly data: the Chinese company ofhigh tech reported its third consecutive quarterly decline in revenue, a trend that reveals the difficulties of its research activities on Internet and artificial intelligence. Revenue for the three months ended December fell 2% to 34,1 billion yuan ($4,7 billion), compared with an average estimate of 33,4 billion yuan. The results were better than expected, but they failed to offset a 29% drop in operating income. Baidu kicks off a reporting season for China's tech sector, revitalized by the success of startup DeepSeek. The generative AI boom showed itself with a 26% increase in Baidu Cloud Revenue in the December quarter, more than double the pace of growth in the previous three months.
The CSI 300 stock index dShanghai and Shenzhen is +0,4%. In China the house prices in major Chinese cities showed further declines in January, leading analysts to believe Beijing's policy intervention may have helped stabilize the real estate sector. Average house prices in the 70 cities surveyed by the government fell 0,07% in January from a month earlier, compared with a 0,08% decline in December.
Taipei's TAIEX down 0,4%. The stock exchange is standing out Alone with a 1,5% rise in the Kospi index, today at its highest since September 2024. The area's benchmark index, MSCI Asia Pacific, lost 0,5%.
Asian suppliers of Intel, including the two heavyweights of the Seoul stock index, SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics, rose after U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance spoke of the need to produce chips in the United States and potential agreements involving TSMC and Broadcom. Battery company shares also rose after theToyota-LG Energy deal.
La Tokyo stock exchange is slightly down: Nikkei index -0,3%. The yen is trading at 151,7, up from 152,7 yesterday. Japanese exports rose at a healthy pace in January as companies ramped up orders in anticipation of Trump's tariffs that are set to take effect in the coming months. Japan's trade balance slipped back into the red, with a deficit of 2,76 trillion yen ($18,2 billion), the largest in two years. By region, shipments to the United States rose 8,1%, while those to China fell 6,2%. Exports to Europe fell 15,1%.
La New Zealand central bank cut interest rates by 50 basis points to 3,75% as expected, but signaled that its aggressive cuts were set to slow, and the regional dollar rose 0,3% to $0,5722. The Australian dollar lost 0,11% to $0,6347, a day after the central bank made its first rate cut since 2020, but warned of the prospect of further easing.
Il Petroleum Brent crude rose 0,28% to $76,05 a barrel as traders awaited the outcome of U.S.-Russia talks in Riyadh. The price ofspot gold fell slightly to $2.932 an ounce, after hitting an all-time high last week on safe-haven demand.
European stocks seen opening at parity. Eyes on Recordati
European stock markets should open around parity based on the EuroStoxx50 Future at -0,1%.
Recordati: the majority shareholder Rossini Sarl, controlled by the CVC fund, has completed the placement of 5% through accelerated bookbuilding at 55,70 euros per share, still has 46,82%
Leonardo Minister Urso, who visited Turkey yesterday, declared that the acquisition of Piaggio Aerospace by Baykar opens the way to a partnership with Leonardo aimed at producing drones in Italian factories.
Moncler RBC raises target price.
TIM . Italian post is ready to further increase its stake in Telecom Italia (Tim) thus strengthening its position in the event of a possible M&A operation involving the telephone group, three sources say Reuters. One of the three sources and a fourth person say that any consolidation involving Tim would involve the entire company, with the government opposed to a splitting up of its consumer and enterprise activities. According to government sources, cited by The print, the consolidation of the Italian telecommunications market cannot ignore Iliad.
Unicredit. Bpm bank evaluates a new complaint to Consob after having responded yesterday to UniCredit's objections, reports The print.
Popular of Sondrio has postponed the presentation of the new industrial plan from February 12 to March 26.
Mediobanca gathers the consultation pact to evaluate the takeover bid launched by MPS.
Juventus. Cryptocurrency company Tether, which has bought 5% of the football club, is open to evaluating all options on the club and does not lack the financial means to do so, as the CEO, Paolo Ardoino, told Reuters.
Edison and Tenaris meet their respective boards of directors on the preliminary 2024 accounts.
