Monthly Comment January 2025
The beginning of 2025 was eventful, with a strong focus on the United States, where Donald Trump began his second presidential term with extensive measures. He imposed punitive tariffs of 25% on Mexico and Canada, as well as 10% on Chinese goods, leading to countermeasures from the affected countries and the risk of an expanded trade war. However, the tariffs on Mexico and Canada were later postponed. Global stock markets were shaken by news of the success of the Chinese AI service DeepSeek, which pressured U.S. tech stocks, but markets later stabilized. Sweden’s GDP grew by 0.7% in December, though the economic outlook remains weak. The Riksbank and the ECB lowered their key interest rates by 25 basis points, while the Fed kept its rate unchanged due to persistently high inflation in the U.S. Stock markets experienced a volatile but strong month, driven by robust fourth-quarter earnings reports. Among industrial and manufacturing companies, strong order intake stood out, indicating a potentially more favourable economic outlook ahead.