Markets Look Past Tariff Mayhem For Now; But…

This is our weekly market update where we start in the US, cross to Europe and Asia and end in Australia, covering commodities and crypto along the way. The past week was full of events, as the U.S. top court, which has a conservative majority, ruled 6-3 against Trump’s global tariffs enacted last year under a federal law meant for national emergencies. US economic data confirmed a stronger inflation pulse and weaker growth, plus mixed economic signals across Europe and Australia, while China is closed for the new year holidays. All up the global MSCI index rose 0.98% for the week, while the All-country Asia ex Japan rose 2.28% and the ASX 200 in Australia rose 1.78% for the week, though eased slightly on Friday. The STOXX 600 in Europe rose 2% while US equities closed higher on Friday as investors took the US Supreme Court ruling that President Donald Trump’s use of tariffs were illegal in stride, and after he moved swiftly to keep tariffs in effect. The S&P 500 climbed 0.69%, The NASDAQ gained 0.90% while the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.47%. Nine of the 11 S&P 500 sector indexes rose, led by communication services, up 2.65%, followed by a 1.27% gain in consumer discretionary. For the week, the S&P 500 rose 1.08%, the NASDAQ gained 1.51% and the Dow edged up 0.25%. Worth noting in passing that while the S&P 500 is up almost 1% in 2026, there has been a gain of over 3% in MSCI’s global stock gauge. So, on the surface at least, market reaction to news that the US Supreme Court has struck down President Donald Trump’s infamous tariff regime looks pretty muted. Actually, the world’s most important equity market was on track for an even better day until the Court’s decision was announced, and then dipped suddenly. Supreme Justice Gorsuch noted: If history is any guide, the day will come when those disappointed by today’s results will appreciate the legislative process for the bulwark of liberty it is… It started recovering after Trump announced in a press conference that he would impose a 10% global tariff for 150 days under Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974 to replace emergency duties that the Supreme Court struck down using a different federal law. Economists and strategists anticipate few immediate overall changes. It may be that things get a bit more volatile in the coming weeks. It remains uncertain as to whether the US government will need to refund tariffs collected, and it’s also unclear as to how trade deals Trump has made with individual countries in the last year will be affected. It will be a while before we understand the size of any longer-term hit to the US debt position as we move from the old tariff regime to the new. But actually, three big forces – geopolitical breakdown, AI and polarising inequality are the rotations we are seeing in financial markets at the moment, and that we should expect more volatility ahead. http://www.martinnorth.com/ Details of our one to one service are here: https://digitalfinanceanalytics.com/blog/dfa-one-to-one/ Go to the Walk The World Universe at https://walktheworld.com.au/ Find more at https://digitalfinanceanalytics.com/blog/ where you can subscribe to our research alerts Please consider supporting our work via Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/DigitalFinanceAnalytics The full detailed set of post code data is available as a subscription service. Or make a one-off contribution to help cover our costs via PayPal at: https://www.paypal.me/MartinDFA We also can receive bitcoins at: 13zBL1oRib9VJu8Uc9zUGNhxKDBBgUpDN1 Please share this post to help to spread the word about the state of things.... Caveat Emptor! Note: this is NOT financial or property advice!! 🚨BEWARE OF SCAMMERS🚨 As there are accounts impersonating Walk The World in the comments on YouTube, note that our comments will have a distinguishable verified symbol. And remember that we will never message you asking you to give us money or talk to us on other platforms such as WhatsApp or Telegram