Stocks are trading at higher prices compared to last week. In the US, the S&P went up by 1.20%, Nasdaq100 by 0.47% and DJIA by 1.77%. In Europe the markets had a similar increase. AEX went up by 0.97% and Stoxx600 by 0.83%. FTSE 100 also went up by 1.59%
The trade war between the US and China is once again heating up.
Biotech companies in South Korea which play a crucial role in the country’s economy, are now looking for ways to diversify away from China as their main supplier, looking to get ready as the US is expected to further increase protectionism against Chinese exports.
The Biden administration has been steadily tightening the trade restrictions against China. These restrictions both account for imports of Chinese goods as well as the US export of goods that would enhance China’s access to high-end technology. The US, similar to Japan and the Netherlands, restricted their chip exports with hopes of slowing down technological progression in China.
There are also talks of a new BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) currency that would rival the US dollar as the leading currency for international trade. There are still complications regarding the new currency’s sustainability as all these countries highly differ as individual economies, although trade volumes within the five countries are also substantially high.
The World Trade Organization (WTO) has warned that export volumes around the world may slow down given the current environment with the increasing interest rates, trade restrictions as well as sanctions.
The collapse of Silicon Valley Bank in the past month continues to persist as it sparked turmoil in the financial markets. According to data from Bloomberg, trading volumes in options increased substantially preceding the upcoming earnings by major banks. Share prices of most banks have since stabilized after the collapse, although investors are using options tied to shares of some banks that had a volatile couple of weeks as a protective measure.
On Tuesday, former US president Donald Trump became the first-ever US president to be charged with criminal charges. Facing 34 counts of falsifying business records, the ex-US president is eventually expected to go on trial. Although the case will seemingly take a long time to resolve so there is nothing yet forcing the Republican leader to give up on his ambition to return to the White House for now.
Flow Traders Investment Competition
Last week B.R.O.O.D. Beleggers has risen two places to regain the top position in the competition again with a M2 of 16.77%. With this they overtook Negotium Novum and Mercury who make up the rest of the top three places. Then we have Aevitas, rising seven places, finally making some progress in the competition, but still only standing halfway the right column. The last place is still held by Plutus Investments and the biggest loss belongs to Brut Investments and Conquistadores, both losing six places.
