Global stocks surged on Wednesday due to a wave of new policies announced by U.S. President Donald Trump and strong corporate earnings, boosting investor confidence. The dollar remained near a two-week low amidst ongoing tariff concerns.
Netflix shares skyrocketed by almost 15% in pre-market trading after the company reported a substantial increase in subscribers last quarter, leading to price hikes for its service plans in the United States and globally.
Trump's announcement on Tuesday, regarding the formation of a joint venture named Stargate by OpenAI, SoftBank, and Oracle in the field of artificial intelligence infrastructure, caused shares of SoftBank to rise by 11% in Tokyo and Oracle by over 8% in pre-market trading.
This positive news also pushed Nasdaq futures up by 0.8%, while S&P 500 futures showed a 0.5% increase.
Despite Trump's threat of imposing new tariffs, including a suggested 10% tariff on goods from China on Feb. 1, investors seemed somewhat relieved as they had already anticipated such actions.
European markets responded well to the news, with the STOXX 600 index hitting a record high by rising 0.7% on Wednesday. Germany's DAX climbed 1.1% and remains at a record level, boasting nearly a 7% gain year-to-date.
The Nikkei in Japan surged by 1.6%, mirroring the positive trends on Wall Street. However, MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan experienced a 0.2% dip due to declines in Chinese and Hong Kong stocks.
Following the temporary retreat of tariff threats, Treasury yields slightly pulled back. The U.S. 10-year Treasury yield stood at 4.5704%, showing minimal change in Europe and remaining above 4.53%, its lowest level since Jan. 2.
The U.S. dollar index hovered at 107.97, close to a recent low of 107.86. The euro remained stable at $1.0430, and the Japanese yen decreased marginally to 155.74 per dollar.
Bitcoin maintained its close proximity to the record high of $109,071, rising by 4% on Tuesday following regulatory progress from the top U.S. markets regulator.
Oil prices rebounded slightly after a 2% decline due to Trump's energy production plans. Brent crude increased by 0.5% to $79.66 per barrel, while U.S. crude rose by 0.4% to $76.15 per barrel.
Gold prices resumed their climb, reaching a 2-1/2 month high of $2,759 per ounce, following a 1.4% increase on Tuesday.