Market Report.
🤷 Investors have largely shrugged off Trump’s recent imposition of Section 122 global tariffs, reducing the incentive for him to water them down this time. Or perhaps paranoia about the potential problems of AI and the tech sector worries more.
🔍 Be that as it may, what is clear is that the event of the week is the NVIDIA results that will be published today, unless the US starts a war against Iran. Let’s analyze everything in detail.
📈 Nvidia’s stock has risen only 2% so far in 2026, underperforming the broader market, as investors worry about signs of risk to the company’s long-held dominance in the AI chip market. Nvidia faces growing competition from rivals like AMD and Google, which are developing their own AI chips to challenge Nvidia’s position.
🤝 To defend its market share, Nvidia has struck deals to license chip technology and supply chips to major customers like Meta. However, it has also drawn skepticism by scaling back its planned investment in OpenAI.
💡 Nvidia’s earnings could be a sign that AI spending remains robust and the company can maintain its leadership.
🏛️ Last night, in his State of the Union address, President Trump touted the economic success of his administration, claiming he had ushered in a “golden age of America.”
🇺🇸 Trump declared the nation is “bigger, better, richer and stronger than ever before,” touting low inflation, rising incomes, and a “roaring economy” – though polls show many Americans remain anxious about the economy.
💊 Trump claimed that his “most favored nation” policy and the new TrumpRx website have helped achieve the lowest drug prices in the world for Americans. Trump claimed that his policies have accomplished what previous presidents could not, and that Americans will now pay the lowest drug prices anywhere in the world.
⚠️ Trump did not provide any clarity on his plans for Iran, despite signs of escalating tensions. He also did not discuss the impact of artificial intelligence on the economy and jobs.
🗣️ While He offered some modest policy proposals, like a retirement savings match program, he largely refrained from seeking bipartisan consensus and instead used the speech to attack his political rivals.
💰 The new plan would be modeled after the low-fee federal Thrift Savings Plan (TSP), which is available to federal government employees. Under Trump’s proposal, workers without a 401(k) could receive a government matching contribution of up to $1,000 per year to help them build retirement savings.
🏦 This would be a new government-backed retirement savings program to help expand access to tax-advantaged retirement accounts for the millions of private-sector workers who currently lack employer-sponsored 401(k) plans.
😡 Democratic Representatives Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib loudly and unintelligibly shouted at the president after he brought up the issue of illegal immigration. Some of those present claim that, while the audience was singing USA, these two representatives shouted KKK.
🚀 In relation with Iran, Trump says Iran is building missiles that “will soon reach the United States of America,” adding, “I will never allow the world’s number-one sponsor of terror to have a nuclear weapon.”
🌍 Are we facing a new era of economic order? The global economy is entering a new era of heightened competition and government intervention to secure access to critical minerals and metals, driven by a mix of economic, security, and geopolitical factors.
🏗️ The U.S. has proposed a $12 billion “Project Vault” to build strategic stockpiles of rare earths and other essential metals for industries like defense, clean energy, and advanced manufacturing.
🌏 Australia, the EU, South Korea, and other countries are also launching initiatives to expand state-backed reserves of critical minerals to reduce reliance on concentrated supply chains, especially from China.
🌱 In our previous reports, we mentioned that ESG policies in the investment world were doomed to disappear and that green policies were being strictly enforced by those economies that had less impact on CO2 emissions. Well, it seems we were right about this too.
🌡️ The ambitious net zero emissions target by 2050 is no longer seen as a realistic or achievable goal, as economic and energy security concerns have taken priority over the singular focus on climate change mitigation.
📉 The goal of net zero emissions was seen as an impossible task, requiring emissions to drop to a residual amount that could be offset by natural or artificial carbon removal. This was viewed as highly unrealistic given current emissions levels.
🔌 Governments and policymakers are now more focused on energy security and affordability rather than prioritizing climate change and the net zero target. The economic costs and disruptions of rapid decarbonization have become a greater concern.
🏦 Finally, in corporate news, HSBC Holdings Plc reported better-than-expected earnings for 2025, with pretax profit of $29.9 billion exceeding the analyst estimate of $28.9 billion.
💼 The strong performance was driven by HSBC’s wealth division, which saw a boost in client income.
👔 CEO Georges Elhedery, who took over in 2024, has led a major restructuring of the bank, including cutting jobs, selling businesses, and doubling down on HSBC’s Asia-focused strategy.
📊 The restructuring has been well-received by investors, with HSBC’s share price surging nearly 90% since Elhedery became CEO. The bank’s market value also broke through £200 billion ($270 billion) for the first time.
🧾 So far, HSBC has been relatively unaffected by the tariff policies of former U.S. President Donald Trump.
Geopolitics.
🏛️ Senator Thomas Massie criticised the situation before Congress, stating that after reviewing reports of what he described as horrific crimes — including only those not subject to censorship — he has yet to see arrests of the alleged perpetrators or the launch of formal investigations.
📢 He proceeded to read out the names of several influential individuals and called for their detention, or at the very least for the FBI to open official investigations into the matter.
🇳🇴 Former Norwegian Prime Minister Thorbjørn Jagland has reportedly been hospitalised following what authorities describe as a suicide attempt. This development comes shortly after Norwegian officials confirmed the opening of a criminal investigation concerning alleged ties to Jeffrey Epstein. His Lawyer Denies Reports He Attempted Suicide.
🗂️ NPR reports that files allegedly related to Donald Trump are missing from the Department of Justice’s Epstein document release.
🗣️ Rep. Hakeem Jeffries criticized President Trump over his claim that he had destroyed Iran’s nuclear program, saying: “What happened to Iran’s nuclear program being ‘completely and totally obliterated’? Donald Trump’s words, not my words. Clearly he was lying to the American people or he’s lying right now.” He added: “I am interested in hearing what the administration has to say on this matter, but I am concerned that we may be sending the Navy into yet another failed “forever war” abroad.”
🚔 Iranian authorities have announced that they have detained a Dutch diplomat who was allegedly attempting to smuggle Starlink equipment and satellite phones into the country.
✈️ According to Reuters, Israel has conveyed an indirect message to Lebanon warning that it could target civilian infrastructure — including Beirut Airport — if Hezbollah were to intervene in a potential conflict between the United States and Iran.
🕵️ Senior Trump administration officials, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio and CIA Director John Ratcliffe, briefed a group of senior lawmakers known as the “Gang of Eight” about the situation with Iran on Tuesday.
⚖️ Senator Mark Warner, the top Democrat on the Senate intelligence committee, said the administration has not done enough to explain its goals and rationale for the military posturing toward Iran. Warner said it is “incumbent” on President Trump to make a clear case to Congress and the public about the administration’s plans and interests in the region.
📌 The administration has previously been criticized for not sufficiently briefing Congress ahead of military actions, such as the capture of Venezuela’s leader.
Market View.
📊 We remain within the usual trading ranges across the major indices as markets await earnings from the world’s largest technology company, Nvidia.
📍 E‑mini S&P 500 futures have moved back towards the 6,900‑point level, while Nasdaq 100 futures are hovering around 25,000 points, currently trading near 25,035.
💵 The US Dollar Index (DXY) is showing a slight pullback after once again reaching the 98 level yesterday, allowing EUR/USD to edge back towards the 1.18 area.
🇪🇺 In Europe, DAX 40 futures remain range‑bound but are ticking higher towards 25,100 points, while Euro Stoxx 50 futures continue to advance, now trading around 6,145 points.
🛢️ Spot Brent crude remains close to the $71 per barrel region, currently at $70.80, amid ongoing tensions between the United States and Iran.
🥇 Gold futures have resumed their climb towards the $5,200 per ounce level.
₿ Finally, Bitcoin fell back yesterday towards $62,500, before rebounding to around $65,000.
