iSAM Securities Blog | Institutional FX News, Insights, Trends & Opportunities

Market Commentary: Tuesday 21st January

Written by Chris Twort | 21/Jan/2025

In contrast to Mexico and Canada, with no announcements about China, Chinese stocks rallied.
This also boosted Hong Kong equities, though analysts warned against reading too much into Trump’s first day in office.
S&P 500 futures were little changed, while S&P/ASX 200 futures fell 0.1%.
Bitcoin fell 1% to $101,463.89.
Ether fell 1.8% to $3,222.53.
UK November average weekly earnings growth rose to 5.6%, up from 5.2% in October.
ECB’s Kazimir pointed to a 2% deposit rate target, stating he expects the ECB to cut rates three or four more times, with a cut next week almost certain.
Looking ahead, Canada’s CPI and EcoFin meetings are the most impactful events on the calendar today.

Asia:

Global shares and U.S. Treasuries were volatile on Tuesday, reversing a brief relief rally from earlier in the session during the first few hours of Donald Trump’s presidency. This volatility followed his announcement of plans for trade tariffs on neighboring countries.
Trump stated that his administration is considering imposing 25% tariffs on Mexico and Canada as soon as February 1. This announcement dampened investors’ hopes for a delay, which had been raised by the brief mention of tariffs in his inauguration speech.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 advanced 0.56%. In Japan, the benchmark Nikkei 225 was down 0.09%.
South Korea’s Kospi reversed earlier gains, edging down 0.36%, while the Kosdaq declined 0.83%.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index opened up 0.07%, and mainland China’s CSI300 Index started the day marginally higher.

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