Share price of Trump’s Truth Social company rises 70% pre-market
The share price of Donald Trump’s media company has surged in pre-market trading after the attempted assassination of the US presidential candidate.
Demand for shares in Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG), the owner of the X rival Truth Social, appeared to soar on Monday. The share price rose 70% in trading ahead of the opening of New York’s Nasdaq stock exchange.
Traders appear to be speculating that the assassination attempt makes a Trump victory in the November presidential election more likely, and that that would benefit TMTG, despite its financial struggles so far.
Key events
The reaction to the Trump assassination attempt on traditional financial markets has been fairly muted – especially compared with the Trump Media & Technology Group share price surge.
The US dollar is almost flat against a trade-weighted basket of currencies, while US futures prices suggest US benchmark stock indices will gain about 0.5% when they open later.
US Treasury bond yields have tended to rise when the prospect of Donald Trump winning back the presidency appears to increase. That is on the assumption that his economic policies would increase inflation and add to government debt.
The price of benchmark 10-year Treasury bonds fell in price on Monday. The yield on those bonds (which moves inversely to prices) rose by 0.02 percentage points to 4.206.
Share price of Trump’s Truth Social company rises 70% pre-market
The share price of Donald Trump’s media company has surged in pre-market trading after the attempted assassination of the US presidential candidate.
Demand for shares in Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG), the owner of the X rival Truth Social, appeared to soar on Monday. The share price rose 70% in trading ahead of the opening of New York’s Nasdaq stock exchange.
Traders appear to be speculating that the assassination attempt makes a Trump victory in the November presidential election more likely, and that that would benefit TMTG, despite its financial struggles so far.
Bitcoin jump linked to Trump assassination attempt by analysts
The price of bitcoin has jumped 10% in a move that some analysts have linked to the attempted assassination of Donald Trump on Saturday.
The price of one bitcoin rose above $63,000 on Monday, and was up 9% over the day, according to Refinitiv.
The cryptocurrency – which tends to be more volatile than many traditional assets – had slumped from above $70,000 in early June to below $54,000 in early July. Its record high was in March, when it hit 73,803.
The theory is that the Trump’s defiance after the assassination attempt makes him more likely to win, and that he will then be more likely to ease regulations on bitcoin, as he has courted crypto advocates, including in a June meeting with crypto “miners” (owners of computers that make the calculations crucial to the decentralised cryptocurrency’s functioning). Many cryptocurrency advocates have links to libertarian politics.
The price of #Bitcoin is up nearly 10%(!) following the attack on Donald #Trump. As the odds of Trump winning the US elections rise, so does Bitcoin, underscoring that it is highly susceptible to shifts in the political landscape. This makes the work of investors harder, as… pic.twitter.com/Z8HLrEMEVw
— jeroen blokland (@jsblokland) July 15, 2024
Rania Gule, market analyst at XS.com, an online trading platform, said that bitcoin had gained after Joe Biden’s poor performance in a debate against Trump earlier this month:
I believe that US political news is driving gains in cryptocurrencies because it is a “speculation-driven” area.
If re-elected, Trump may seek less stringent regulatory policies towards cryptocurrencies, potentially improving regulatory conditions and encouraging more investments.
His policies towards international relations and foreign trade also have a significant impact on the market, as tensions or stability in international relations may lead to fluctuations in cryptocurrency markets.
You can follow more news on US politics as Trump prepares to accept the Republican party’s nomination as US president:
Recruiter Robert Walters warns of slower recovery in jobs market
Recruiter Robert Walters has also warned that it does not expect the jobs market to pick up at least until next year, after a slowdown in hiring across the world.
UK revenues for the London-listed company were down 18%, while Asia Pacific revenues were down 15%.
Toby Fowlston, chief executive, said:
Fee income for the first half of 2024 continued to reflect the rebasing in market conditions relative to the post-pandemic peak. This period of market adjustment is now longer in duration than previously expected, with macroeconomic turbulence and political uncertainty restraining client and candidate confidence in certain geographies.
Our near-term planning now assumes that any material improvement in confidence levels will be gradual, and likely not occur before 2025.
Burberry’s struggles and the surprisingly weak Chinese economic figures are putting luxury and fashion stocks across Europe under pressure.
Watch company Swatch Group also reported a steep fall in sales in the first half of its financial year. JP Morgan analysts said that Swatch has one of the highest exposures to China among its European rivals, according to Reuters. they wrote:
We think the sector will likely come under pressure first thing this morning, and notably Richemont, the most obvious read-across.
Cartier owner Richemont fell 2.6% and Louis Vuitton owner LVMH was down 1.7%.
As might be expected after such a brutal set of news on Monday morning, Burberry’s share price has slumped.
The fashion company is down 11% in early trading.
It has been a pretty torrid year. You can see today’s slump in the very bottom right of the below chart, but it has been one-way traffic for much of 2024. Shares are down 45% for the year.
It looks like those Chinese GDP data may have set the mood for Monday on stock markets, with Europe’s indices falling at the opening bell.
London’s FTSE 100 and Spain’s Ibex are both down 0.4% in early trading, so it doesn’t seem to be a reaction to the football at least.
Here are the opening snaps, via Reuters:
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EUROPE’S STOXX 600 DOWN 0.3%
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GERMANY’S DAX DOWN 0.2%
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BRITAIN’S FTSE 100 DOWN 0.4%
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FRANCE’S CAC 40 DOWN 0.5%, SPAIN’S IBEX DOWN 0.4%
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EURO STOXX INDEX DOWN 0.4%; EURO ZONE BLUE CHIPS DOWN 0.4%
Burberry replaces boss as loss expected; Chinese retail weakness slows growth
Good morning, and welcome to our live coverage of business, economics and financial markets.
All change at the top of British fashion: Burberry has announced the departure of chief executive Jonathan Akeroyd after it was forced to cancel its dividend after a slump in sales.
Akeroyd has left the FTSE 100 company “with immediate effect by mutual agreement with the board”, Burberry said on Monday morning. Burberry has appointed American Joshua Schulman, a former Michael Kors boss, to replace him.
Gerry Murphy, Burberry’s chair said the performance was “disappointing”. He said:
We moved quickly with our creative transition in a luxury market that is proving more challenging than expected. The weakness we highlighted coming into full year 2025 has deepened and if the current trend persists through our second quarter, we expect to report an operating loss for our first half. In light of current trading, we have decided to suspend dividend payments in respect of full year 2025.
The data published by Burberry in its accompanying trading update do not make for pretty reading for shareholders: comparable store sales are down by 21% to £458m in the 13 weeks to 29 June.
In the Asia Pacific region sales are down by 23%. Revenues across the entire financial year could drop by 30%. Burberry said:
We are operating against a backdrop of slowing luxury demand with all key regions impacted by macroeconomic uncertainty and contributing to the sector slowdown.
Chinese GDP grows by 4.7%, below 5.1% forecast
Buberry’s struggles have been put into context by Chinese GDP figures earlier this morning: growth slowed to 4.7% year-on-year in the second quarter, down from 5.3% in the first quarter and below the 5.1% expected by economists polled by Reuters.
China’s Communist party leaders are meeting for their “third plenum” this week, the forum that takes place about every five years at which they set out their long-term policies on the economy. The government is aiming for 5% growth in 2024, which may be a challenging target if the weakness persists.
The figures were “hampered mainly by weak consumer spending and demand”, said analysts at Deutsche Bank led by Jim Reid. They added:
Other data showed that China’s retail sales slowed to +2.0% y/y in June (v/s +3.4% expected and the worst since December 2022) after advancing +3.7% in May, thus highlighting that the world’s second largest economy is struggling to boost consumption. Adding to the negative sentiment, China’s home prices fell again in June, declining -0.67% on the month with existing home prices declining -0.85%.
