Over the weekend, Donald Trump’s second impeachment trial officially ended. Despite several Republicans turning on the former president and supporting Democrats in convicting Trump, there were not enough votes in favor to convict the president for inciting violence, leading to the attack mounted by Trump supporters on Capitol Hill in early January. Thus, Donald Trump escaped impeachment for the second time.
Many questions remain for the Republican Party. Prominent figures like Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell seem to be distancing themselves from Trump, but not to a degree to vote against him. It remains to be seen how the Party will handle the selection process for presidential candidates to run in 2024. Though many seem to have a problem with Trump, the Party does rely on his massive popularity with far-right voters, an increasingly growing segment amid the Republican vote.
With the impeachment trial out of the way, Congress can now fully focus on the next big thing on the agenda: Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion stimulus plan. Due to Democrats being in control, the stimulus is expected quickly without any hitches.
As a result, market sentiment is improving. With stimulus on the way and vaccinations against Covid-19 going at full speed in the US, stock indices are recovering. Even European and Asian indices are having a good day today.
Today we are seeing a slight drop in cryptocurrencies, fueled by profit-taking after last week’s rally. Still, investor confidence in Bitcoin and others remains high at the moment and the rally of these assets may resume after profit-taking is finished.
As for the economic calendar, one of the biggest events today was the release of the latest GDP data from Japan. The reports were better than expected, with GDP growth expected at 12.7% in the last quarter of 2020, significantly better than the forecast of 9.5%. Industrial production in Japan also fell by less than feared and came in at -2.6% in December.
In Europe, the reports were a mixed batch. The balance of trade was better than the forecasts, but the December industrial production report was disappointing.
US markets are closed today in celebration of Presidents’ Day, while Chinese markets are closed for Lunar New Year, making this a rather quiet day in the financial markets.
