Market update: Footsie races to fresh records amid metals rally and trade hopes
Susannah Streeter, chief investment strategist, Wealth Club: ‘’The Footsie has raced up to fresh records as a rally in gold and silver prices help boost fortunes of mining giants. Trade tailwinds helping propel the index higher, with more optimism swirling about the prospects for global growth. The strengthening of the dollar in recent days is helping to buoy multinational London listed companies. The Footsie has found its mojo once again, with investors drawn in by its defensive qualities in a volatile world.
Bargain hunters have been out in force, buying up precious metals after the dramatic fall in prices. Gold and silver are in recovery mode but are still cooler than the hot records reached last week. Gold is around 12% lower, and silver is 28% below its peak, but compared to this time last year, the rise has still been remarkable. Safe haven demand is still strong, given the erratic policymaking from the White House, and fractious geopolitical relations.
The TACO trade has come to the fore again, given that President Trump has again rolled back on some of the more onerous tariffs levied again trading partners. Trump chickening out from headline threats has been his modus operandi, though he does so by squeezing concessions out of negotiations. This time India is benefiting from the roll-back, with US tariffs on Indian goods slashed in return for India ceasing the purchase of Russian oil and buying more US commodities. This will provide significant relief for India’s exporters, opening up new supply chains.
Elon Musk is again reaching for the stars, with his AI ambitions far from terrestrial. He’s announced a deal to for Space X to acquire X.Ai – his artificial intelligence vehicle, behind Grok, the controversial AI assistant. It’s all part of his vision for data centres in space, and this deal will rocket boost his plans. This could all be a part of Musk’s plan to ultimately merge SpaceX and X.Ai with Tesla, potentially giving the merged business a dominant edge in satellites, compute, and autonomous robotics. Such a move would create a mega AI conglomerate, a much bigger force to take on the might of Google. It appears plans for a Space X IPO are still on track, and with a greater, integrated AI backbone it could give the valuation added thrust.’’