-
A woman walks past an electronic screen displaying stock quotation board in Tokyo, Japan April 15, 2025
The dollar was higher, gold softer and stocks on the rebound on Thursday after United States (US) President Donald Trump dropped tariff threats and ruled out seizing Greenland from an ally by force.
Trump’s theatrics and consequent tensions have kept markets on edge this week, prompting investors to take the latest developments with a pinch of salt even as relief was palpable.
“I won’t do that,” the US President said at Davos of an attack to secure Greenland.
“Okay? Now everyone’s saying ‘oh, good’ that’s probably the biggest statement I made because people thought I would use force. I don’t have to use force, I don’t want to use force, I won’t use force.”
He added on his Truth Social platform that the US and NATO had a framework for a deal and that he would not impose tariffs.
European futures were 1.2% higher in the Asia afternoon and FTSE futures rose 0.75%. On Wall Street the S&P 500 had notched a 1.16% rise, its largest in two months, and futures were 0.3% higher through Asian trade.
A bouncing dollar has pushed the euro back under$1.17, to $1.1686, and gold has dropped about $100 an ounce to $4,790 from a record high of $4 887.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose around 1% and chipmaker gains in Seoul carried the KOSPI above 5 000 points for the first time.
“The TACO, as they call it, is certainly real,” said Damian Rooney, director of institutional sales at Argonaut, are sources-focused broker in Perth, referring to a Wall Street acronym for “Trump Always Chickens Out”.
