US and European stocks hit record highs

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The US&P 500’s S&P 500 strengthened to a new record on Wednesday after strong Netflix results added fuel to a rally driven by a wave of announcements about US President Donald Trump’s “America First” policy.

List of major US blue-chips stocks rose 0.8 percent midday in New York, pushing past the previous day’s first day of December, hitting 6,100 for the first time.

The S&P 500 last week posted its best five-session gain since Trump won the election.

Netflix, whose fourth-quarter earnings announced overnight beat previous analysts’ estimates, gained 10.4 percent, pulling other tech stocks higher. Oracle jumped 7.2 percent and Microsoft added 4 percent after they joined other tech titans, including OpenAI, in to announce plans for a new US artificial intelligence project.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite is up 1.5 percent in touch territory from a mid-December intraday high.

Wednesday’s breakthrough comes as Trump has used his first three days in office to threaten new tariffs against US partners as he vows to end America’s “decline”.

Expected corporate tax cuts and easing of financial regulations boosted investor sentiment a week after some of the country’s biggest banks reported record-high profits on and the recovery of trade and commerce.

The Stoxx Europe 600 also edged higher on Wednesday as fears of US tariffs eased and investors bought cheap European stocks after strong corporate earnings.

The broader European index rose about 0.9 percent to a record high of 530.55, boosted by gains in other major European companies such as Danish drugmaker Novo Nordisk and Germany’s Adidas .

It closed down 0.4 percent after losing some of its gains.

Frankfurt’s Dax added 1% – after hitting a new high – led by a 6 percent gain for Adidas after its strong full-year results.

Luca Paolini, chief strategist at Pictet Asset Management, said that “the environment at risk (was) raising boats, especially the weakest”, helped by other factors including concerns about tariffs of the US decreased slightly.

Despite repeated threats, Trump has yet to impose new tariffs on US imports from the bloc.

Emmanuel Cau, an analyst at Barclays, said: “There is relief in the view that Trump is easier than the market had thought.

“The (European) market is no longer as afraid of Trump as he suggests he is trying to communicate,” he said.

London’s FTSE 100 also set a new intraday record before moving lower, closing flat.

The highs came after a Bank of America survey of European fund managers this week showed that investors had increased their holdings in European funds as fears grew over rising rates. the top of Wall Street.

Only 19 percent of fund managers were “overweight” on US stocks in January, down from a record 36 percent the previous month. The shift was the biggest shift from US stocks to Eurozone stocks in nearly a decade, the bank said.

Trump also said on Tuesday that his administration is talking about imposing a 10 percent duty on Chinese imports next month. He revealed on Monday that he will make payments of 25% against Mexico and Canada once on February 1st.