This Week in Markets

Foreign

1. Trump’s Inauguration : Donald Trump was sworn in as the 47th President on Monday, signing key executive orders, including a focus on boosting US energy production, withdrawing from the WHO and Paris Climate Accords, and tightening immigration. His most market-impacting moves involved tariffs, with plans to impose up to 25% tariffs on Mexico and Canada by Feb 1 and maintain a potential 10% tariff on China. During the weekend prior to his inauguration Trump and his wife launched meme coins, $TRUMP and $MELANIA. The Trump meme coin gained 230% in one day with a market cap of $14.3Bn on Sunday.
2. Stargate : Trump announced a $500Bn private sector investment to advance AI infrastructure, aiming to surpass global competitors. OpenAI, SoftBank, and Oracle will collaborate on a project called Stargate, creating over 100,000 US jobs.
3. Netflix : Netflix will raise subscription prices after adding 19 million subscribers in Q4 2024. In the US, most plans will see increases, including the standard ad-free plan to $17.99/month. The company ended the year with over 300 million subscribers and doubled its Q4 net profit to $1.8Bn.
4. European Equities : A recent Bank of America survey showed a dramatic shift from US stocks to European equities this month. Investors moved from a 22% underweight to a 1% overweight in European equities, marking the second-largest shift toward the region in 25 years.
5. China : China plans to direct pensions and mutual funds to invest more in domestic shares to support market growth.

Local:

1. World Bank : The World Bank forecasts a growth a 4.4% in 2025 and 3.8% in 2026.
2. Lux Island Resorts : Lux Island Resorts registereda 20% increase in RevPAR in Mauritius, despite flat occupancy, while Maldives and Reunion reported modest gains. Total revenue rose 10%, and operating profit grew 1%. Management expects Q3 bookings to be lower, with 9 months ending 31 March 2024 performance in line with last year.
3. ABC Banking : A petition is currently being processed in the Supreme Court of Mauritius to approve the Scheme of Arrangement for a corporate reorganization. The board now expects the reorganization to be completed by February 24, 2025.

Source: Financial Times, Bloomberg, Yahoo Finance, Wall Street Journal, SEMDEX, Company Financial Reports and Announcements, Local News, Statistics Mauritius