Yahoo Finance Trump gets sworn in — What you need to know in markets on Friday
Business news has seemingly been all about politics over the last several months.
And Friday will be no different.
Around noon Eastern on Friday, Donald J. Trump will be sworn in as the 45th President of the United States. All inaugurations, of course, are ceremonial events. And we’d expect that Trump’s swearing-in will be no different.
But given Trump’s status as a pro-business candidate, markets are likely viewing Trump’s inaugural address as a time to speak to some of his potential economic plans. And as a result, this could be a market-moving event.
“What the markets need to hear from Trump is a full-throated defense of tax reform,” said Greg Valliere, chief global strategist at Horizon Investments.
“Donald Trump’s speech this Friday will be intensely scrutinized after this past tumultuous weekend, in which he seemingly went out his way to alienate Western Europe, African Americans, the U.S. intelligence community, and even Congressional Republicans,” Valliere added in a note to clients earlier this week.
“The financial markets may be able to handle that — but investors absolutely, positively need to hear Trump embrace a pro-growth agenda.”
In the last month, US stocks have gone nowhere while interest rates have declined some after big moves following the election.
For while as much as Trump’s election sent survey-based data rocketing higher as the era of regulation and political gridlock was supposed to come to an end, the last month has seen markets move towards a more cautious stance.
“There is such a gap now between spin and reality it is incredible,” writes David Rosenberg, a strategist at Gluskin Sheff.
Rosenberg notes that while most of the survey data since the election has shot higher, hard economic data has remained lackluster. Rosenberg added that right now, the US economy is “soft, not strong” and that any positive plans Trump puts in place will hit on a lag.
“Animal spirits” is a term we’ve seen more folks in markets use to discuss the state of corporate and consumer confidence in America right now.
But while many have viewed the Trump presidency as perhaps a time to unlock the pent-up tension in the US economy, it seems the chances for a big disappointing have only grown larger.
As for non-Trump news on Friday, only earnings from General Electric will potentially give markets anything to chew on aside from Trump’s first address as president.
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Myles Udland is a writer at Yahoo Finance. Follow him on Twitter @MylesUdland
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