US Stocks, Dollar Pared Gains on Trump’s Speech in Congress

NEW YORK, N.Y. – The US dollar pared down its gains with US futures as market players wait for new developments in the economic strategy of US President Donald Trump, as he was scheduled to make a speech at the Congress.

According to an asset manager at the SEI Investments Co. In Pennsylvania, Sean Simko, the US stock market has been taking the President’s speech in stride. Investors have had high expectations for Trump’s speech, but they might be in for a disappointment, Simko added.

Following Trump’s speech to the Congress, the S&P 500 index trimmed its 0.4% advance, and the Bloomberg Dollar spot index also pulled back a similar advance.

The takings on the 10-year Treasuries tracked around one basis point advance, also cutting down its bigger gains.

After his win in the presidential election, one of the factors the boosted the market towards growth is the commitment of President Trump to spur economic growth through hiking spending while easing the regulations.

With the overall growth in the economy, it helped surge the value of the global equities, allowing it to reach around the $70 trillion mark, which has also boosted the US dollar higher.

With the patience of most investors waning, the question that the market is facing at the moment is whether or not President Trump can provide enough of a plan to help boost the optimism back in the market.

In the days before the scheduled speech of the President, most market players have been unwilling to embrace riskier bets as US shares reach its all-time highs.

Market players have also sifted through the series of updates throughout the week ahead of Trump’s address.

On the currencies front, around 11:40 a.m. Tokyo time, the Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index already tracked a 0.2% increase, paring its 0.4% advance earlier in the day. On the other hand, the Japanese yen recorded a 0.25 decline, going down to 113.03 points against the US dollar, marking its third day of declines.

Earlier in the day, the Australian dollar tracked around a 0.3% loss but gained back some points after a 0.4% increase afterward.

The gross domestic product of the country also recorded a 1.1% increase in the fourth quarter, which is significantly higher than the 0.8% estimated advance, as more households spent more and saved less during the quarter.

However, in commodities, the gold dropped by 0.1% towards $1,247.32 per ounce, marking its third day of gains. On the other hand, oil increased by 0.2% to close at $54.11.