A look at the day ahead in U.S. and global markets from Mike Dolan
Retaining a persistent, if uncertain, threat of new tariffs, U.S. President Donald Trump quickly switched his attention to technology and artificial intelligence this week – exciting the red-hot sector that’s about to report its latest earnings round.
Trump on Tuesday announced a private sector investment of up to $500 billion to fund infrastructure for artificial intelligence, aiming to outpace rival nations in the business-critical technology.
The newly sworn-in President said ChatGPT creator OpenAI, SoftBank and Oracle plan a joint venture called Stargate, which he said will build data centers and create more than 100,000 jobs in the United States.
Softbank shares soared more than 10% in Tokyo trading, while Oracle surged 9% out of hours ahead of Wednesday’s bell.
With the fizz back in tech, streaming giant Netflix burst 14% higher in premarket trade on Wednesday after its latest earnings update revealed a record 18.9 million new subscribers over the holiday quarter and plans for price hikes.
The renewed tech focus comes as the Nasdaq has marginally underperformed the broader S&P500 so far this year, with even Apple under a cloud on Tuesday despite brisk Wall Street stock index gains. The Apple retreat allowed AI-chip darling Nvidia to retake top spot as America’s most valuable company.
With some big industrial names topping the corporate diary on Wednesday, and the first 10% of S&P500 firms pointing to overall annual profit growth of almost 11% through the last quarter, stock futures were up smartly before the open.
The S&P500 closed above the 6,000 mark on Tuesday for the first time this year – less than 1% from record highs.
Despite the AI tilt, Trump continued to rattle the tariff sabre overnight – without necessarily giving much additional clarity on where exactly or when they may be coming.
Trump vowed to hit the “very, very bad” European Union with tariffs and said his administration was also discussing a 10% punitive duty on Chinese imports – blaming the trafficking of fentanyl from China to the U.S. via Mexico and Canada.
Currency gyrations around the threats seemed to have calmed down, however, with traders adopting a ‘wait and see’ mode and assuming any moves will happen only after the countries in question respond to Trump’s main concerns.
The dollar index slipped to its lowest in two weeks, with the euro clocking its best levels of the year so far – even as European Central Bank officials speaking in Davos lined up behind more interest rate cuts this year.
