US and European stocks hit new highs

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The US Standard & Poor’s 500 index rose to a new record high on Wednesday after bumper Netflix results added fuel to a rally driven by a wave of US President Donald Trump’s “America First” policy announcements.

An index of blue-chip stocks of large companies in the United States Stocks It rose as much as 0.8 percent by midday in New York, surpassing the previous intraday high in early December, reaching 6,100 for the first time.

Last week, the S&P 500 posted its best gains in five sessions since Trump won the election.

Netflix, which posted fourth-quarter earnings overnight that beat analysts’ expectations, rose 10.4 percent, pushing other technology stocks higher. Oracle stock jumped 7.2 percent and Microsoft stock rose 4 percent after joining other technology giants, including OpenAI, in 2019. Announcing plans A new comprehensive American project for artificial intelligence.

The Nasdaq Composite rose 1.5 percent, within striking distance of an intraday high in mid-December.

Wednesday’s gains come as Trump used his first three days in office to threaten to impose new tariffs on US allies, while promising to end the period of American “regression.”

Expected cuts in corporate tax rates and financial deregulation added to investor optimism a week after some of the country’s largest banks reported sharply higher profits due to a rebound in deal-making and trading.

The Stoxx Europe 600 index also hit a record high on Wednesday as concerns about US tariffs eased and investors bought cheaper European stocks following strong corporate earnings.

The broad European index rose as much as 0.9 percent to a record high of 530.55, supported by gains by some of Europe’s largest companies such as Danish pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk and German Adidas.

It closed 0.4 percent higher after giving up some of its gains.

Frankfurt’s DAX added 1 percent – after also hitting a new high – led by a 6 percent gain for Adidas after its strong full-year results.

“The risk-off environment was lifting all boats, especially the weakest,” helped by other factors including concerns about slightly easing US tariffs, said Luca Paolini, chief strategist at Pictet Asset Management.

Despite repeated threats, Trump has yet to impose new tariffs on goods exported to the United States from the bloc.

“There is some comfort in the view that Trump is softer than the market thinks,” said Emmanuel Cao, an analyst at Barclays.

“The (European) market is not afraid of Trump anymore because he gives the impression that he is trying to negotiate,” he said.

London’s FTSE 100 index also hit a new intraday record before pulling back and closing flat.

This rise came after a Bank of America survey of European fund managers this week showed that investors raised their allocations to European stocks as concerns grew about high valuations on Wall Street.

Only 19 per cent of fund managers were “overweight” US stocks in January, down from a record 36 per cent the previous month. The bank said this was the largest shift from US stocks to euro zone stocks in nearly a decade.

Trump also said Tuesday that his administration is discussing imposing 10% tariffs on Chinese imports as early as next month. He revealed on Monday that he would implement customs tariffs 25 percent against Mexico and Canada As soon as February 1.