Slight declines in Wall Street futures; Novo Nordisk leaps forward

Trade review: current reports, trends, indices, stock prices, bonds, foreign exchange and commodities and analyst recommendations

15:21

Wall Street futures are now slightly down. The Dow shed 0.3%, the Nasdaq and S&P 500 by 0.1%. Even so, the indexes are on track for a second week of gains.

US President Donald Trump called yesterday at the Davos forum for a reduction in US interest rates, oil prices and taxes – a call that sparked optimism among investors regarding his policies and strengthened the stock market. The main indices are expected to end the shortened week with gains of over 2%, which illustrates the impact of Trump’s words, even as Wall Street doubts his ability to implement the changes.

In addition, Trump said yesterday that he would “prefer not” to impose tariffs on China – a change in attitude that alleviated some of the concerns about the possibility of a trade war. Following his words, Chinese stocks recorded gains.

14:22

A mixed trend in Europe. The DAX is up 0.2%, the FTSE is down 0.4% and the KAC is up 0.8%.

The share of the Danish pharmaceutical manufacturer, Novo Nordisk jumps sharply after the company reported that the results of its new clinical trial showed that one of its treatments led to a 22% weight loss in people living with obesity.

12:41

This morning, the Bank of Japan raised interest rates by 0.25% to 0.5% – the highest since 2008.

The Swiss EFG bank estimates that the increase in interest rates in Japan indicates another wave of increases in 2025.

Sam Juchim, senior economist, at the Swiss bank explains: “The Central Bank of Japan has finally said goodbye to the zero interest rate policy that has characterized it for the past decades and today raised the interest rate to 0.5%. The decision, which was made by a majority of 8 to 1, reflects the confidence The bank’s strength in the Japanese economy.

“What tipped the scales was the optimism regarding the expected wage increases in 2025. Meetings held by the bank with regional branch managers reinforced the assessment that the positive trend of wage increases will continue, similar to 2024 which presented the sharpest increase in the last 33 years.

“Despite the interest rate increase, the reins are still loose when the real interest rate remains negative, standing at -2.5%, as noted by Bank Governor Oda. But the upward revision of the inflation forecast for the fiscal year 2025 implies that we may see additional interest rate increases this year – more than previously estimated.”

12:17

The main indices in Europe are trading in a mixed trend. The DAX is up 0.4%, the FTSE is down 0.3% and the KAC is up 0.9%.

the share of luxury goods, Barbary Group is surging sharply after positively surprising early expectations for its fiscal third quarter sales. The company’s total revenue was 659 million pounds (816 million dollars), a decrease of 7% compared to the corresponding period.

10:35

The trading day in Europe opened with price increases. The Dax rises by 0.3%, the Potsi adds to its value by 0.1% and the KAC rises by 0.9%.

Futures in the US are trading by the hour in a mixed trend.

07:51

This morning in Asia, the main indices are trading in a mixed trend. The Nikkei is down 0.1%, the Shanghai Stock Exchange is up 0.7%, the Hang Seng is up 2% and the Kospi is up 0.7%.

The stock market in Japan is gathering interest after the central bank raised interest rates by 0.25% to 0.5% – the highest since 2008 and in line with economists’ expectations. Following the decision, the Japanese yen weakened to a level of 155.18 against the dollar. At the same time, the country’s inflation figures for the month of December were published this morning. At an annual rate, inflation rose to 3%, in line with early forecasts.

Futures in the US are trading by the hour in a mixed trend.

Last night (Thursday) on Wall Street, trading closed higher. The S&P 500 rose 0.5% on its way to an all-time high for the second day in a row.

On the other hand, the Nasdaq index lags behind, although it rose by 0.2% at the close, amid declines in most trading hours today in the shares of prominent companies such as Nvidia , Tesla andAmazon.com . Chip stocks were mostly affected by the warning of South Korean memory maker SK Hynix, a supplier of Nvidia, about a drop in demand, which also dropped the memory company’s stock fromMicron Technology . At the same time, the Dow Jones index registered an increase of 0.9%.

● “They have no money at all”: Trump’s artificial intelligence project is causing drama on Wall Street

It was only a matter of time – President Donald Trump opened a front against the Federal Reserve last night, when he declared that he would apply pressure to lower interest rates. During a wide-ranging speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, before an audience of global leaders, Trump did not mention the Federal Reserve by name, but made it clear that he intends to work for lower interest rates.

“I will demand that interest rates go down immediately,” Trump said. “And by the same token, they should drop all over the world. Interest rates should follow us everywhere.”

In the macro sector, purchasing managers’ indices in Europe and the US are expected to be published later today.

In the commodity market, oil prices are trading stable this morning. The price of a barrel of Brent stands at 78.3 dollars and the price of a barrel of WTI trades around 74.6 dollars.