Economics

According to Lukas Daalder, Chief Investment Officer of Robeco Investment Solutions, tax cuts set to raise US government and trade deficits higher • Tariff plans add a new flavor to an already toxic cocktail • Spare capacity will determine the fate of this experiment

According to Andrew Mulliner, Portfolio Manager, Janus Henderson Investors Fixed Income Investment Strategy Group, the ECB managed to deliver both a hawkish shift, and maintain a dovish stance, at its meeting this week.

The steel and aluminium tariffs instated by President Trump should tighten the supply of metal coming from China. As a serial overproducer, cutback from China will be welcome news and could even increase prices; China is already trying to reduce capacity in steel and aluminium and this should push it further along.

In the Netherlands, the moderates hold on to power. Then came the election of French President Emmanuel Macron and the decisive victory of his newly founded movement, La République en Marche, in the French general elections.

We remain constructive for equities, due to the synchronized global recovery, which we expect to underpin strong earnings growth. Given that until recently, investor sentiment was near record highs, we think that some sort of correction was indeed overdue.