No watered-down tariff plans for Trump? US president-elect Donald Trump denied aWashington Post report published yesterday suggesting his blanket 10%-20% universal tariffs plan would be scaled back to target only critical imports tied to economic and national security. WP later updated its report to redact some of the original content, after being picked up by the Financial Times, Bloomberg, Reuters, the Guardian, among others.

Making the cut: The alleged scaled-back plan would see the incoming US administration focusing tariffs on goods including defense materials, pharma products, and energy materials including solar panels, and batteries, WaPo’s Jeff Stein reported.

Trump insists he’s not backing down from tariff plans: “The story in the WP, quoting so-called anonymous sources, which don’t exist, incorrectly states that my tariff policy will be pared back. That is wrong,” Trump said in a Truth Social post yesterday.

IN CONTEXT- Trump, set to take office on 20 January, has proposed a 60% tariff on Chinese goods, followed by an additional 10%, as well as a 10% tariff on imports from other countries during his 2024 Presidential campaign. Separate tariffs targeting Canadian and Mexican goods have also been suggested, leaving businesses scrambling to adapt to the potential cost increases and supply chain disruptions.

Tariffs might trigger a spike in US inflation, but Powell’s not sweating it — at least not yet: The effect of Trump’s potential tariffs on the economy is not yet a present situation to handle, US Fed Chair Jerome Powell said in December when the Federal Reserve cut rates by 25 bps for the third time last year.

MARKETS THIS MORNING-

Early trading in Asia-Pacific markets is telling a mixed story this morning, weighed down by Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index, which is down after the US State Department designated tech giant Tencent Holdings as a Chinese military company. Japan’s Nikkei is firmly in the green, up 2.4%, while South Korea’s Kospi is also up more than 1%.

Wall Street futures suggest markets will open broadly in the green, carrying forward momentum from a rally in tech stocks that led the S&P 500 and Nasdaq to close up yesterday.

ADX

9,428

+1.1% (YTD: +0.1%)

DFM

5,191

+1.3% (YTD: +0.6%)

Nasdaq Dubai UAE20

4,216

+1.7% (YTD: +1.3%)

USD : AED CBUAE

Buy 3.67

Sell 3.67

EIBOR

4.2% o/n

4.4% 1 yr

TASI

12,104

+0.3% (YTD: +0.6%)

EGX30

29,930

-0.8% (YTD: +0.6%)

S&P 500

5,975

+0.6% (YTD: +1.6%)

FTSE 100

8,250

+0.3% (YTD: +0.9%)

Euro Stoxx 50

4,987

+2.4% (YTD: 1.9%)

Brent crude

USD 76.30

-0.3%

Natural gas (Nymex)

USD 3.70

+0.7%

Gold

USD 2,634.66

-0.1%

BTC

USD 102,211.21

-0.5% (YTD: +8.2%)

THE CLOSING BELL-

The DFM rose 1.3% yesterday on turnover of AED 601.9 mn. The index is up 0.6% YTD.

In the green: Emirates REIT (CEIC) (+7.4%), Taaleem Holdings (+6.9%) and SHUAA Capital (+5.1%).

In the red: Dubai Refreshment Company (-10%), Dubai National Insurance & Reinsurance (-4.1%) and Sukoon Takaful PJSC (-3.2%).

Over on the ADX, the index rose 1.1% on turnover of AED 1.2 bn. Meanwhile, Nasdaq Dubai rose 1.7%.

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