In the world of major currencies, it’s a pretty quiet scene right now. The dollar is maintaining its usual pace as Trump continues to hit the headlines with his steel and aluminum tariff plans. These hefty 25% tariffs are set to become official on March 4, completely tearing apart any past agreements. With a month left on the clock, it begs the question: Will there really be no exceptions? So far, market reactions have been rather subdued, almost calm, I’d say.
Looking at dollar pairs, there’s not much movement; they seem to be hovering within tighter ranges as we wait for the European markets to kick in. Over in the stock market, S&P 500 futures have dipped by 0.2%, following a slight uptick yesterday. The real star of the show, however, is gold. It’s made a slight 0.3% climb to $2,915, though it hasn’t quite reached the heights of its previous high at $2,942.
As we gear up for the European morning trade, we can expect things to move at a slower pace. The barrage of Trump-related news is likely taking a pause. However, keep an eye out for the fact that U.S. Vice President Vance is scheduled to be in Paris, mingling with Chinese and EU representatives at the AI summit. This could lead to some unexpected headlines during the session.
Besides potential news flares, there’s not much on Europe’s trading calendar to stir the pot. As the day unfolds, market focus will likely shift to more updates from Trump and, importantly, Fed Chair Powell’s testimony before Congress. We’ll get a glimpse of his prepared remarks a bit before he goes live at 1500 GMT.
Also on today’s agenda, at 1100 GMT, we’ll see the release of the U.S. January NFIB Small Business Optimism Index.
And that wraps up what to watch for in the upcoming session. Wishing you all the best in your trading endeavors. Stay sharp and safe out there!
