Stocks on Wall Street started the week stronger as investors shrugged off US President Donald Trump’s latest round of tariff threats, set to come into effect next month.
European markets were shakier with some fretting over the need for a trans-Atlantic deal, as automakers including BMW and Volkswagen were on the red side of the ledger.
Meanwhile, Tesla gained after its chief Elon Musk said the electric vehicle maker will hold a shareholder vote on whether to invest in his xAI artificial intelligence and social media group, which is also said to be getting an injection from SpaceX.
And crypto stocks such as Coinbase and MicroStrategy rallied as Bitcoin hit a new record, and crypto asset manager Grayscale filed for an initial public offering.
Trading places
Northern Hemisphere investors had a mixed view on the latest bout of tariff talk from US President Donald Trump as Germany’s DAX 30 declined 0.4% with automakers such as BMW and Volkswagen broadly weaker while Wall Street’s S&P 500 was up 0.2% in late trading with US traders taking the latest jostling in their stride.
Trump said he’s still open to reaching deals with trading partner ahead of the August tariff imposition.
“The market continues to take a sanguine view of where Trump lands on tariffs, presuming that the threats will be dialled back or not have much impact,” Bank of New Zealand senior markets strategist Jason Wong said in a note. “After global equity market futures traded on a weaker note during the Asian session, sentiment has improved.”
Attention is turning to the upcoming earnings season, with US banks such as JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo, Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs and European microchip components maker ASML due to report this week.
Crypto week
Crypto stocks rallied in the US, with Coinbase and MicroStrategy both rallying as Bitcoin hit a new record US$123,153, and was up 0.6% at US$119,655 at 7am in Auckland. US legislators are set to consider several bills overhauling crypto policy this week.
The NZX-listed Smart Bitcoin exchange traded fund has gained 13% so far this week, closing at $4.495 on Monday.
Meanwhile, crypto asset manager Grayscale has filed confidential paperwork to the US Securities and Exchange Commission for a potential IPO, following in the footsteps of successful floats from the likes of Circle Internet.
EV maker Tesla was up 0.8% in late trading after chief executive Elon Musk said the company will vote on investing in his xAI business after reports his space exploration firm SpaceX plans to invest US$2 billion into the Grok AI developer.
AI investment
US President Trump is set to announce US$70 billion of AI and energy investments on Tuesday in the US.
Brent crude oil futures slipped 1.6% to US$69.24 a barrel after Trump gave Russia a 50-day window to avoid 100% secondary tariffs by ending its war with Ukraine.
Australian futures are pointing to a 0.7% gain for the S&P/ASX 200 index when it opens today, while the kiwi dollar traded at 59.77 US cents at 7am from 59.81 cents yesterday.
Local data include June house sales figures from the Real Estate Institute of New Zealand, while Australian consumer confidence and Chinese economic growth figures are also on the calendar.
Cervical cancer screening company TruScreen is holding a special meeting to approve its recent capital raisings.
Reporting by Paul McBeth. Image from Alberto Rodríguez on Unsplash.
