US Futures Jump on Tariffs Relief, Dollar Stumbles: Markets Wrap

(Bloomberg) — US equity futures ratcheted higher, while the dollar extended losses, after the Wall Street Journal reported that Donald Trump won’t impose new tariffs as soon as he takes office.

Trump plans to issue a broad memorandum that directs federal agencies to study trade policies and evaluate US trade relationships, according to the WSJ, It stops short of imposing new tariffs on his first day in office, as many trading partners feared.

A gauge of the dollar dropped as much as 0.9%, retreating further from a 13-month high it reached earlier in January. Contracts on the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 rose 0.4% with Wall Street closed Monday for a holiday.

The presidential memo singles out China, Canada and Mexico for scrutiny, directing agencies to assess Beijing’s compliance with its 2020 trade deal with the US, but the memo doesn’t, in itself, impose any new tariffs, according to the WSJ.

That came as a relief to investors who were expecting the incoming president to unleash a barrage of executive orders on his first day in office, including decrees on immigration, tariffs and energy.

“The Wall Street Journal report on tariffs triggered the move which has also impacted foreign exchanges markets and lifted the euro versus the dollar,” said Andrea Tueni, head of sales trading at Saxo Banque France.

Trump’s plan to invoke emergency powers in order to boost domestic energy production, while shifting away from renewable sources, sparked declines in Siemens Energy AG, Enel SpA and Vestas Wind Systems A/S. Crude oil fell.

Bitcoin jumped as much as 5.5% after the president-elect and his wife Melania unveiled their own memecoins over the weekend. Trump’s conversation with China’s leader Xi Jinping — which he described as “very good” — boosted Asian stocks on Monday. 

The potential for Trump to unleash additional fiscal stimulus, from lower taxes to higher tariffs, may keep the dollar strong and Treasury yields elevated. For one, Nomura Holdings Inc. has joined T. Rowe Price in seeing a chance of 10-year Treasury yields rising to 6% this year, while a small group of bond traders believe the Federal Reserve’s next move on interest rates will be to increase them, contrary to the majority view that rates will be cut.

“Any further stimulus that sparks a growth and inflation shock could lead to a Fed rate hiking cycle, for which markets are largely unprepared,” Iain Stealey, international CIO for fixed income at J.P. Morgan Asset Management, wrote in a note to clients. 

Key events this week: 

• The annual World Economic Forum in Davos begins, Monday
• Donald Trump to be sworn in as 47th president of US, Monday
• UK jobless claims, unemployment, Tuesday
• Canada CPI, Tuesday
• New Zealand CPI, Wednesday
• Malaysia CPI, rate decision, Wednesday
• South Africa retail sales, CPI, Wednesday
• ECB President Christine Lagarde and other officials speak at Davos, Wednesday
• South Korea GDP, Thursday
• Eurozone consumer confidence, Thursday
• Turkey rate decision, Thursday
• Norway rate decision, Thursday
• Canada retail sales, Thursday
• Trump will join the World Economic Forum for an online “dialogue”
• Japan CPI, rate decision, Friday
• India, euro area, UK PMIs, Friday
• ECB President Christine Lagarde and BlackRock CEO Larry Fink speak at Davos, Friday

And here are the main market moves:

Stocks

• S&P 500 futures rose 0.4% as of 9:20 a.m. New York time
• Nasdaq 100 futures rose 0.4%
• Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.4%
• The Stoxx Europe 600 rose 0.2%
• The MSCI World Index rose 0.3%

Currencies

• The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell 0.9%
• The euro rose 1.1% to $1.0390
• The British pound rose 0.9% to $1.2284
• The Japanese yen rose 0.4% to 155.75 per dollar

Cryptocurrencies

• Bitcoin rose 4.1% to $107,850.39
• Ether rose 3.7% to $3,349.98

Bonds

• The yield on 10-year Treasuries was little changed at 4.63%
• Germany’s 10-year yield was little changed at 2.53%
• Britain’s 10-year yield advanced two basis points to 4.68%

Commodities

• West Texas Intermediate crude fell 1.6% to $76.65 a barrel
• Spot gold rose 0.2% to $2,709.83 an ounce

This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.

–With assistance from Catherine Bosley.

©2025 Bloomberg L.P.