But Trump’s moves in his administration had the opposite outcome for the US stock market.
For years, the S&P 500 has taken over major European and Chinese markets as investors begin to withdraw money from the US and make it happen all over the world.
Since Trump took office, the S&P 500 has dropped by 6%, Germany’s DAX index has risen by 10%, and the European-wide Stoxx 600 index has scored more than 4%. Other US indexes are getting worse. This is even worse as European markets are supported by plans for military spending on the continent after Trump reveals he wants to do more to those countries to protect himself.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index has risen further, rising more than 20% since Trump took office in January, and has been driven to efforts to stimulate Beijing’s economy. Mexico’s IPC index is domestically focused and proves resilient to Trump’s sudden tariffs, up 5%.
Even the sluggish global market has managed to outperform the S&P 500. The FTSEAll-World Index has fallen 2.9% since the inauguration, and was overwhelmed by US listed stocks. Canada’s TSX index fell by 2%. Japan’s 225 fell by 3.6%. Over the past few weeks, Wall Street has sent a ton of pivot-recommended bank research notes, client presentations and trade ideas from the US. The recent withdrawal comes after a year in which the US stock market is the global vy hope and attracts foreign investors looking for a higher return than the home market offers.
Many investors remain bullish on US stocks in the long term, believing they will once again outweigh foreign stocks. But I’m wondering if the present moment could be the beginning of an inflection point.
This article originally appeared in the New York Times.
