EUROPEAN EQUITIES UPDATE: Stocks boosted after US Court Ruling blocks Trump's tariffs and NVDA +5% pre-market

STOXX 600: +0.3%

• European bourses opened with a strong positive bias with sentiment boosted following well received NVIDIA results and after the Manhattan-based Court of International Trade blocked President Trump's Liberation Day tariffs. Sentiment has waned in recent trade, but with indices still broadly in the green.


• To recap that US Court Ruling; it found that the sweeping tariffs under the emergency powers law were unlawful. However, the Trump administration has since filed an appeal and has other tools it could apply to maintain such tariffs. Next, the decision will go to the US Court of Appeals and then potentially the Supreme Court thereafter.


• Goldman Sachs noted that the ruling on Liberation Day tariffs gives the administration 10 days to halt tariff collection but does not affect sectoral tariffs and the admin can impose across-the-board tariff and country-specific tariffs under other legal authorities.


• Recent price action has seen some modest pressure enter the complex, with traders potentially sidelining the positives and digesting the “bearish” stories over the weekend, which underpins the tumultuous nature of US-China relations.


• Stories include; the US halting exporting aircraft engine technology and chip software to China, according to NYT. Elsewhere, US Secretary of State Rubio said the US will begin revoking visas of Chinese students, including those with connections to the Chinese Communist Party or studying in critical fields.


• EZ-docket ahead is very light, aside from some BoE speak from Bailey and Breeden.

Sectors: Positive

• European sectors hold a positive bias, with the more cyclicals sectors topping the pile.


• Tech takes the top spot, with sentiment in the sector boosted after strong NVIDIA results afterhours (see US section) – peers such ASML (+3.5%) move higher. Also for the semiconductor space, US President Trump ordered US chip designers to stop selling to China, according to FT – this story is more-so for the likes of Siemens (+0.1%) which did initially open with losses.


• Basic Resources and Consumer Products both complete the top 3, with those sectors benefiting from the aforementioned US Court ruling.

Majors: FTSE 100 -0.2%, DAX 40 +0.3%, CAC +0.6%

• BP (+1.3%) moves higher after Bloomberg reported that its Castrol business has drawn interest from Reliance, Apollo and Lone Star.


• LVMH (+1.7%) is benefiting from the broader risk tone and trade-related updates – but there was some commentary from the Deputy CEO who said Chinese clients travelling and spending less over the last three months, but did highlight that US demand is showing some signs of picking up.

US Equity Futures: ES +1.5%, NQ +1.9%, RTY +1.8%

• Futures are entirely in the green, with sentiment in the complex boosted following strong NVIDIA results and a US Court ruling blocking Trump’s tariffs.


• To recap those NVIDIA results; shares are currently higher by 5% after a Q1 sales and profit beat, with other inner components such as data gaming revenue also strong. Though the report was not all positive, with its Q2 revenue a little light of expectations, reflecting USD 8bln loss in H20 revenue.


• Sell side commentary has broadly suggested that results were strong, particularly in the context of recent Chinese curbs; a Barclays analyst writes that overhangs have passed and believes investors will look to add to NVIDIA and other semiconductor names. Mizuho analysts write that the Q2 guide is actually better than “90% of the buysiders expected”, JPM suggests that “investors were really pleased with the results”.


• The US day sees the release of the second reading of Q1 GDP (see below for preview). Weekly initial jobless claims (exp. 230k vs prior 227k) and continuing claims (exp. 1.894mln vs prior 1.903mln) are due, with the latter coinciding with the BLS survey window for the May jobs data. Today’s speakers’ slate includes Fed Governor Kugler (voter), Fed’s Goolsbee (2025 voter), Fed’s Barkin (2027 voter), and Fed’s Daly (2027 voter).

29 May 2025 - 10:00- ForexEU Research- Source: Newsquawk