The risk mood is improving once again and the S&P 500 is higher in what’s been a choppy day.
SPX 5 mins
The comments from Powell were a non-factor as he reiterated a wait-and-see attitude that’s nearly unanimous at the Fed.
I noted a comment from Citadel CEO Ken Griffin who said that Trump’s bombastic tariff rhetoric is a mistake.
“From my vantage point, the bombastic rhetoric, the damage has already been done,” Griffin said Tuesday at UBS Financial Services Conference in Florida. “It’s a huge mistake to resort to this form of rhetoric when you’re trying to drive a bargain because … it tears into the minds of CEOs, policymakers that we can’t depend upon America, as our trading partner.”
That kind of pushback has an audience in Washington as Griffin is a powerful Republican megadonor. I wonder if we see more Congressmen begin to voice objections.
The US dollar is also sliding on what might be a sense of a trade war that’s not as intense as feared. That’s a tricky proposition given that Trump has promised something on reciprocal tariffs today or tomorrow. At the same time, it comes after Trump’s steel/aluminum tariffs were announced but won’t go into effect until mid-March.
That suggests a period of negotiation that indicates tariffs are more of a threat than an instrument. I believe that’s been the undercurrent in markets since last Monday’s freakout over Mexico-Canada tariffs.
Today in US trading the euro, pound and Canadian dollar have been steady gainers.
The pound looks to end a three-day losing streak.
GBP/USD 1 day