By Chelsey Dulaney
Global investors appear optimistic as President Trump's first week back in the White House nears an end.
The S&P 500 notched its first record close of 2025 on Thursday, and benchmarks in the U.K. and Germany are also trading near record highs.
Trump has reiterated plans to cut U.S. corporate taxes and regulation since being sworn in. He has also somewhat eased investors' worries about tariffs, suggesting his administration won't immediately resort to steep levies. This boosted a range of currencies against the dollar early Friday.
A strong start to earnings season has also helped lift spirits on Wall Street, though results next week from big tech names--Microsoft, Meta, Tesla and Apple--will put the rally to the test. Before then earnings are due Friday from American Express and Verizon, among others.
In recent trading:
--Stock futures wobbled. Texas Instruments weighed on Nasdaq-100 futures after the chip maker's quarterly outlook underwhelmed investors.
--The dollar weakened. Trump said in a Fox News interview Thursday that he would "rather not have to use" his tariff plan against China. The Chinese yuan climbed against the dollar, as did the euro and British pound, among others.
--Overseas stocks climbed. Stocks rose in China as Trump tempered his tariff threat. European indexes largely gained too, helped by a rally in luxury stocks after strong results from Burberry.
--Bitcoin traded above $105,000. Trump signed an executive order Thursday intended to support the cryptocurrency industry.
This item is part of a Wall Street Journal live coverage event. The full stream can be found by searching P/WSJL (WSJ Live Coverage).
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
January 24, 2025 06:09 ET (11:09 GMT)
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