The markets this morning seem annihilated, incapable of taking clear positions in the face of yet another demonstration of Trump's "push and pull", this time on a crucial topic such as theindependence of the US central bankMeanwhile, on the front duties, Trump announced the sending of letters to more than 150 countries to inform them that their tariff rates could be 10% or 15%. The day will be marked by important new quarterly data, including TSMC and NetflixAsian stock markets are suspended, while European ones are expected to open higher, with the banking risk game at Piazza Affari being considered.
Yesterday, the markets were shuddered by the Trump-Powell saga.
Yesterday the markets shivered as they faced the possibility that Trump's words about a Powell's dismissal could translate into concrete actions, and soon. The reaction was clear: the The dollar fell more than 1%, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq have fallen by more than 1% and Treasury yields In the long run, they soared. Then the trends largely reversed after the president said he had no real intention of firing Powell.
"I'm not ruling anything out, but I think it's highly unlikely, unless he has to leave for fraud," Trump said, referring to recent criticism from the White House and Republican lawmakers over the cost overruns for the $2,5 billion renovation of the Fed's historic headquarters in Washington. There has been no evidence of fraud, and the Fed has rejected criticism of its handling of the project.
Powell has repeatedly said he wants to finish his term, which runs until May 15, 2026. A recent Supreme Court ruling solidified a long-standing legal interpretation that the Fed chair cannot be fired for policy differences, but only "for cause." However, Trump said that when he met with a dozen House Republicans on Tuesday evening and questioned them on the matter, nearly all of them supported his dismissal.
However, the Fed chief is not without his defenders. The list also includes global financial markets. One hypothesis is even that yesterday Trump was launching a survey And that what he saw discouraged him. Despite Trump's calls for monetary easing, Fed officials have held off on cutting rates until it's clear whether tariffs on US trading partners will reignite inflation.
The CBOE Volatility Index, the “Wall Street's "fear indicator," It hit a three-week high following Powell's initial reports, before slowing further from those levels.
Wall Street finally closed higher. Nasdaq hit a new record.
After Trump's calmer words, the indices on Wall Street closed higher: Dow 0,53%, S&P 500 0,32%, Nasdaq 0,26%. The latter in particular recorded the fifth all-time high in the last six sessions. Yesterday, the second day of the new US quarterly earnings season, the results of some major Wall Street banks failed to boost their stock prices much.
Goldman Sachs rose 0,9% after reporting a 22% profit increase, while stocks in Bank of America and Morgan Stanley fell 0,3% and 1,3%, respectively, despite reporting higher profits.
Johnson & Johnson, meanwhile, jumped 6,2%, moving into second place among the best performers in the S&P 500 index, after halving its expectations for this year's costs related to new tariffs and raising its full-year sales and profit forecasts.
Tariffs: Letters to 150 countries requesting a 10-15% tariff. Keep an eye on China.
President Donald Trump announced yesterday that he would send letters to more than 150 countries informing them that their tariff rates could be 10% or 15%. "We're going to send a notice of payment to over 150 countries, and the notice of payment will indicate what the tariff will be," Trump told reporters at the White House on Wednesday. "It will be the same for everyone, for that group," Trump added, stating that the trading partners receiving those letters "were not large countries and didn't do much business." In an interview with Real America's Voice Trump later said the rate “will probably be 10 or 15%, we haven't decided yet.”
In recent days, Trump has unleashed a flurry of tariff demands, informing other economies of new duties that will take effect on August 1 if they fail to negotiate better terms with the United States. “We could perhaps reach an agreement with theEurope. You know, I'm very indifferent about that,” Trump said. Real America's Voice. When asked during the interview what he thought would happen to the Canada, which faces a 35% tariff on some goods in August, the president responded that it was “too early to tell.”
President Donald Trump is toning down his confrontation with the China, ahead of an important summit with his counterpart Xi Jinping, writes BloombergDuring a closed-door meeting with his aides two days ago, Trump reportedly said that the United States will continue to fight China, but “in a very friendly wayAdministration officials say Trump has always liked Xi personally, but that didn't stop him from imposing restrictions on Huawei during his first term and tariffs on most Chinese exports during his second. It was reportedly the president himself who last week decided to backtrack on the US ban on the sale of Nvidia's H20 chips to China.
Meanwhile, the spectre of tariffs on products looms large. pharmaceuticals and on semiconductors always starting from the beginning of next month.
In Asia, the Tokyo and Shanghai stock markets are rising
After the rise in the Nasdaq yesterday, the asian bags are trying to stay in positive territory, albeit very cautiously. The Nikkei index Tokyo is at +0,3%. Sony, one of the most international companies on the Japanese stock exchange, made the most significant contribution to the increase, with a gain of 2%: the stock is coming off five sessions of losses. yen depreciates to 148,5 against the dollar, the cross reaches its highest level since the beginning of April: according to some traders quoted by Bloomberg, the 150 mark could be reached by the end of the year.
Le Japanese exports They fell for a second month in June, as Donald Trump's tariffs weigh on trade and further increase the risk of a technical recession. Last month's decline was 0,5% year-over-year, the Treasury reported. This was due to the decline in the value of automobile and steel shipments. Economists had expected a 0,5% increase. exports to the United States They fell 11,4% from a year ago, in line with the previous month's decline. The value of vehicle shipments fell 27%, while steel shipments plummeted 29%.
In China the Hang Seng of Hong Kong and Taiex of Taipei I'm on par. CSI 300 of the price lists Shanghai and Shenzhen + 0,3%.
Tsmc, the world's largest chipmaker, reported a 60% jump in second-quarter profit to NT$398,3 billion, a record high and exceeding analysts' forecasts. This marks the fifth consecutive quarter of double-digit growth. The Taiwan-listed Tsmc stock It surged 80% last year. On July 17, it fell 5% due to tariff concerns. Both companies are considered key barometers for the semiconductor industry, given their importance in the supply chain.
The number one of Nvidia he praised tonight DeepSeek and China's other contributions to AI research, during a series of meetings with political and technology leaders in Beijing. Huang said that China's open-source AI models are helping the rest of the world during a meeting with Wang Jian, a former executive at Alibaba who helped create the company's cloud unit. The CEO of the world's largest company by market capitalization said that DeepSeek's AI research is "absolutely A-plus quality science, A-plus quality engineering."
The S&P ASX 0,7 index in Sydney rose 200%. Stocks in India and South Korea were flat, while the Thai index in Thailand rose 2,7%.
European stock markets opened higher. Risk takes center stage in Milan.
Le European stock exchanges are seen opening higher, based on the Eurostoxx futures rising by 0,7%.
Unicredit-Banco BpmPress reports indicate that the CEO of the Piazza Gae Aulenti bank is working on a request to postpone the offer by 15 days.
Eni announced the signing of a 20-year agreement with Venture Global for the purchase of liquefied natural gas.
PostItaly wants Poste Italiane and the State Mint to resume negotiations to acquire PagoPA, the Treasury-owned platform that manages digital payments for the public administration, two sources familiar with the matter said.
Bank IfisAt the end of the reopening period for Banca Ifis's takeover bid for Illimity, the total number of subscribers was 92,48%, exceeding the 90% threshold that triggers the cash premium of €0,1775 for each Illimity share tendered. The period for the sale of the remaining shares to Banca Ifis before proceeding with the delisting process now opens, from July 28 to August 29.
ItalgasCiti initiated coverage of the stock with a buy recommendation and a target price of 7,8 euros.
