21 January 2025
If you are covering the latest news in financial markets, please see the following comment from Lindsay James, investment strategist at Quilter Investors:
“Donald Trump’s inauguration in the US brought few surprises. The dollar slipped slightly as his wide-ranging executive orders saw specific tariffs avoiding his focus for now. New orders included pardoning January 6th defendants, tightening immigration and border security, shoring up his power base by reclassifying many civil service roles as ‘political hires’ to make them easier to fire, and pulling the US out of the World Health Organization.
“There was a suggestion of a possible deal with China involving the sale of a stake in TikTok, while Europeans were told they needed to buy more oil and gas to avoid tariffs. With Europe already scrambling for LNG supplies in a tight market, leaders are likely to make warm noises in response to this demand, but whether additional supply is available remains debatable. Either way, this President is set to be a force to be reckoned with and is already rewriting the rules of power for an advanced economy.
“This morning's disappointing UK unemployment figures as businesses prepare for April's national insurance hike, come after last week’s GDP report, which indicated that the UK economy is stagnating. Meanwhile, inflation data has showed a reassuring decline in both headline and core inflation. The UK is not yet in a critical situation, but it is teetering on the edge. The Bank of England faces a challenging balancing act as we progress further into 2025.”
