By Stella Qiu and Koh Gui Qing
SYDNEY/NEW YORK (Reuters) – Global stocks rose on Wednesday as a flurry of new policies from U.S. President Donald Trump combined with strong corporate earnings to boost investor optimism, while uncertainty over tariffs kept the dollar near a two-week low.
Shares of Netflix (NASDAQ: ) rose 14% in after-hours trading as the streaming giant added a record number of subscribers last quarter, allowing it to raise prices for most service plans in the United States and other countries.
That helped Nasdaq futures rise 0.7% in Asia. also increased by 0.3 percent. Europe was also set for a higher open, with pan-European STOXX 50 futures up 0.2%.
Late Tuesday, Trump announced that OpenAI, SoftBank (TYO: ) and Oracle (NYSE: ) will form a joint venture called Stargate and invest up to $500 billion in artificial intelligence infrastructure. SoftBank shares jumped 11% in Tokyo, while Oracle had already gained 7% overnight.
Also helping risk sentiment is the relief that Trump did not announce more sweeping tariff cuts at the start of his second term as president. Many investors and foreign capital expected the tariffs to be among a series of executive orders signed by Trump on his first day in office.
However, he again raised the threat of tariffs on Tuesday, vowing to hit the European Union with new levies and saying his administration was discussing imposing 10% tariffs on goods from China on February 1.
“I think we’re evaluating any extreme moves,” said Hoe Lon Leng, global head of FX flow and linear EM rates trading at Nomura in Singapore.
“I think Trump seems to be more outcome-driven. I think he wants to do a good job and … that means the recent oil prices, the recent rise in bond yields would affect his position to push things to the extreme.”
jumped 1.6%, following big gains on Wall Street. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan, however, fell 0.1% as declines in Chinese and Hong Kong shares offset big gains elsewhere.
Chinese blue chips fell 1%, and Hong Kong’s 1.6%.
A temporary reduction in customs duties supported the decline in government bond yields. However, the index rose 1 basis point in Asia to 4.5866%, after falling 4 bps overnight.
They have remained up about a percentage point since the Federal Reserve began cutting rates in mid-September, reflecting a strong economy and diminishing prospects for major Fed cuts this year.
Futures imply a total easing of 37 basis points by the Fed this year, with the first rate cut not fully factored in until July.
The US dollar was marginally stronger but was near two-week lows against its major rivals after ending a volatile session little changed overnight.
The euro fell 0.2% to $1.0412, just below a three-week peak of $1.0435, while the Japanese yen also slipped 0.2% to $155.87.
held close to a record high of $105,694, after gaining 4% overnight as the main US markets regulator created a task force to develop a regulatory framework for crypto assets.
“Bitcoin’s path to $120,000 is likely,” said Billy Leung, investment strategist at Global X.
Oil prices were unchanged, falling more than 2% overnight on Trump’s plans to boost US energy production. held at $79.35 per barrel, while it was little changed at $75.80 per barrel. [O/R]
Gold also continued its climb to its previous record high. Spot prices rose 0.4% to a 2-1/2-month high of $2,756.19 an ounce, after jumping 1.4% overnight.
