This report is from today’s TNC’s Daily Open, our international markets update. TNC Daily Open keeps investors informed on everything they need to know, no matter where they are.
What To Note Today
Beijing’s Top Objective Is To Stabilise The Yuan
Even if a cheaper yuan increases exports, Beijing is having trouble managing currency volatility. The offshore Chinese yuan has lost more than 3% of its value compared to the US dollar. On Monday, China did not alter its benchmark lending rates, indicating that maintaining the yuan’s stability is more important than expanding the domestic economy.
US Investment From China Is Slowing Down
The most recent statistics from the American Enterprise Institute show a sharp slowdown in Chinese investments in the United States in recent years. In 2023, only $1.66 billion entered the United States, a significant decrease from $46.86 billion in 2017. Due to “an ideological mismatch,” analysts predicted that the trickle would not likely pick up under U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s second term.
U.S. Markets’ First Week Of Gains In 2025
For the first time in 2025, U.S. markets ended the week higher after rising on Friday. On Monday, Asia-Pacific markets rose. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index surged to its highest level since December 31 throughout the trading day. Mainland Beijing maintained its credit prime rates, which caused China’s CSI 300 to rise by about 0.5%.
TikTok’s Clock Restarted
Following Trump’s announcement on his social media app Truth Social that he would “issue an executive order on Monday” to postpone a ban on TikTok, the company stated in a statement on X that it is resuming operation in the United States. THE NEWS CHRONICLES discovered that Perplexity AI pitched to ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok, on Saturday to form a new combined firm that would include Perplexity, TikTok U.S., and additional investors.
Oxfam Forecasts Trillionaires Within A Decade.
On Sunday, Oxfam said that billionaires’ collective wealth increased from $13 trillion in 2024 to $15 trillion. Since the beginning of Oxfam’s statistics, this is the second-largest annual growth in billionaire wealth. The nonprofit estimates that there will be at least five trillionaires in ten years due to the rich people’s increasing rate of wealth growth.
TSMC Is Certain That Trump Will Continue To Fund It
Wendell Huang, the chief financial officer of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., told CNBC in an exclusive interview that the company anticipates receiving the $6.6 billion promised under the Biden administration’s CHIPS and Science Act even after Trump assumes office. During his campaign, Trump accused Taiwan of stealing the U.S. semiconductor market and attacked the CHIPS Act.
Trump To Set Market Direction
Trump’s inauguration is scheduled for later Monday. From the first day of Trump’s presidency, investors will want to monitor the executive orders he signs, particularly those about corporate policy and tariffs. Those orders could predict the direction of stocks for a lot longer than the short term.
Bottom Line
After Trump won the election, the S&P 500 jumped above the glistening 6,000 mark, but in recent weeks, it has mostly reversed all of its gains and dropped back to its pre-election level. However, investors appear to be preparing to play the market based on Trump’s objectives once more as he gets ready to take office.
Last week, stocks concluded the year on a high note, recording their first weekly gain. The Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 both saw their best weekly performances since the week of the November U.S. presidential election, rising 3.7% and 2.9%, respectively, for the week. The Nasdaq Composite had its best week since early December, up 2.5 percent.
Banks mostly caused the increase in the indices, as their shares rose in response to better-than-expected earnings reports. JPMorgan Chase’s shares increased 8% during the same period, while Goldman Sachs’ shares surged about 12%. The financial sector outperformed the S&P last week, rallying more than 6% overall.
Bank stocks may see more upward momentum during Trump’s presidency. Chris Senyek, chief investment strategist at Wolfe Research, says the sector could be driven by increased consumer and corporate confidence, continuing tax cuts, and financial sector deregulation.
Senyek stated in a note on Friday, “We continue to view Financials as the largest sectoral winner under the Trump administration.”
Nevertheless, aside from the expectation that Trump would take office, the markets were also boosted by modest back-to-back inflation data for December. Every market segment finished the week higher.
Barclays strategist Emmanuel Cau wrote in a note on Friday that the better-than-expected economic data has contributed to “reviving the goldilocks narrative for equities, and likely prompted some re-risking.”
Any change usually entails higher risks. That’s true for Trump 2.0, but as the number “two” implies, a change we’ve witnessed in the past could help to reduce some of that uncertainty.Â
