SVET Reports
Wednesday's Markets Update (February 26, 2025)
On Wednesday, equities closed mostly in the red as home sales and building permits decreased, showing consumers' growing distress, along with Trump's 25% levies on EU autos announced.
World's Markets:
European stocks outperformed for a second day after the German elections, as gains in the energy and industrial sectors, especially defense, outweighed the downsides of new auto tariffs. This was bolstered by optimism surrounding the end of the war, as an Americana-Ukrainian minerals deal—rumored to be a 'payback' for wartime aid—appears to be progressing.
Brazilian markets are down due to lower unemployment, as investors expect further rate increases from the BCB.
Chinese equities are in the green, as new economic stimulus promised by the CCP led to a rise in industrials, while tech is down due to Trump sanctions on chips.
Argentinian retail sales rose by 17% in constant prices, up from 4% the previous month.
Vietnam imposed tariffs on Chinese hot-rolled coils in an attempt to protect local producers and increase profits from growing exports of locally produced steel to America.
Commodities and Currencies:
Oil and the dollar are trading lower on expectations of an economic slowdown in America caused by Trump's inflationary policies.
Crypto:
BTC continued to crash, hitting its 200MA at 83K. Overall, by 2025, Trump's trade war has already wiped out USD 1 trillion from the crypto market capitalization, plunging it below USD 3T.
The State Of Markets: Mixed, with American equities continuing to underperform, especially compared to the EU.
Details
New Home Sales fell 10.5% to 657K units in January after an 8.1% rise the prior month. Historically, monthly sales averaged 0.30% from 1963-2025, peaking at 31.20% in April 1963 and hitting a low of -33.60% in May 2010. 1Y trend: "Side". Meanwhile, building permits dropped 0.6% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.473M in January, missing initial estimates of a 0.1% rise to 1.483M. 1Y trend: "Side". (Census)