BancaMarch | First Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum and then Justin Trudeau negotiated through telephone conversations with Trump to delay tariffs in exchange for stricter measures to combat immigration and cross-border drug trafficking. The planned measures consisted of imposing tariffs of 25% on imports from Mexico and Canada, with the exception of Canadian energy products, which would be subject to a 10% tariff. The White House executive orders do not contemplate…

BancaMarch | Trump’s plan to freeze government programme grants and loans has been blocked. The new administration’s measures have caused a stir across the country, as they could freeze payments to medical research programmes, road construction or natural disaster aid. The federal judge issued the temporary stay just minutes before the executive order was due to take effect and scheduled a hearing for 3 February. The White House has issued…

Banca March: Job growth in December rebounds to 256,000 new jobs, above the 165,000 expected by the market and also above November’s 212,000 (revised down from 227,000). The employment rate fell by one tenth of a percentage point to 4.1% and the total participation rate remained stable at 62.5%. Moreover, wages climbed at a pace of 3.9% year-on-year (0.3% month-on-month) maintaining a reasonable pace of growth, one tenth below last…

BancaMarch | The US Congress is close to agreeing on a stopgap government spending bill to avert Saturday’s government shutdown. The temporary measure will fund the government until 14 March. Lawmakers have agreed to add a number of provisions, including more than $100 billion in funding for disaster relief, more than $10 billion in economic assistance for farmers and authorising the sale of E15, a fuel blend that is 15%…

Bankinter | Cyber Monday online sales total $13.3 billion according to Adobe Analytics, increasing 7.3% against 5.8% in 2023. During the five-day period between Thanksgiving Day and Cyber Monday, online sales totaled $41.1 billion, 8.2% up on the same period last year. On these days, the National Retail Federation (NRF) estimates that total spending (physical + online sales) amounted to $235 billion, showing an increase of 3.5%. For the entire…

BancaMarch: US consumer confidence has improved. The Conference Board index rebounded in November reflecting an improvement in consumer expectations with the aggregate index rising 2.1 points in the month to levels of 111.7. This performance was helped by the executive turnaround in the elections at the beginning of November and by the positive wealth effect that rising stock markets and house prices are having on more affluent US households. In…

Norbolsa | Business activity expanded in November at the fastest pace in over two and a half years when the preliminary PMI reading reached 55.3 (54.3 estimated against 54.1 previously) driven by expectations of a lower interest rate environment and “pro-business” policies from the Trump administration. By sector, the momentum in services (57 versus 55 estimated against 55 previously) was surprising, with the new order readings expanding to levels of…