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President-elect Donald Trump walks onto the floor of the New York Stock Exchange with his wife Melania, on Dec. 12, 2024.Key Takeaways
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Stocks on Friday were on track to have their best week since early November as investors bid up equities after this week's reassuring inflation data and ahead of Donald Trump's inauguration next week.
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Cryptocurrencies, Trump Media & Technology Group, and Tesla have all charged higher this week in anticipation of Trump's first week back in the White House.
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Wall Street and individual investors are showing some signs of caution and could be preparing for volatility to jump next week as Trump issues a flurry of executive orders.
Markets were buoyant on Friday, the last trading day ahead of Donald Trump’s inauguration on Monday, but there were some signs of jitters on Wall Street.
Stocks were on track to have their best week since early November when the election results sent equities soaring, while bitcoin jumped to its highest level in a month.
The Republican trifecta in Washington—control of both chambers of Congress and the White House—that will be realized Monday is expected to usher in a raft of deregulation, tax breaks, and other business-friendly policies.
Trump’s vows to support blockchain technology—and his personal and business ties to the cryptocurrency industry—have lifted cryptocurrency prices since his reelection. The price of bitcoin (BTCUSD) surged above $105,000 on Friday, while lesser-known coins also gained.
Other "Trump trades" were also advancing on Friday. Shares of Trump Media & Technology Group (DJT), which can be seen as a proxy for the president-elect’s popularity, were up about 2%, and have gained more than 20% since the start of the year. Shares of Tesla (TSLA), whose CEO Elon Musk has become one of Trump’s closest advisors, were up 6% Friday, pushing their post-election gain to 75%.
Some Investors Cautious Heading Into Trump 2.0
Investor enthusiasm for Trump 2.0 isn't unequivocal. Wall Street has grappled for months with uncertainty about how Trump’s trade and immigration policies will affect inflation. Economists generally agree that his tariff and deportation plans carried out as he’s threatened would exacerbate inflation and force the Federal Reserve to keep interest rates elevated.
Trump’s advisors have assuaged some of the market’s fears by suggesting he’ll take a more measured approach than his campaign rhetoric implied.
Nonetheless, markets could be volatile next week as Trump issues a torrent of executive orders. The Cboe Volatility Index, or VIX, was around 16 on Friday after falling steadily this week as Wall Street cheered reassuring inflation data. But according to data from brokerage Charles Schwab, VIX options volume was above-average on Thursday and the most traded contract—the VIX at 18, expiring on January 22—could imply traders expect volatility to rebound next week.