Morning Wrap: Markets Do Not Believe Trump's Announcements (19.05.2026)

• Donald Trump announced in a post on Truth Social that the attack on Iran planned for today will not take place. Negotiations to reach a lasting agreement between the parties will continue.
• The entry was published before the US market closed, but both the S&P 500 (-0.1%) and the NASDAQ Composite (-0.5%) ended the day in the red.
  • All of the below-listed ended the day with declines:
    • Intel (-0,6%),
    • NVIDIA (-1,3%),
    • Micron (-6%),
    • Tesla (-2,9%),
    • Apple (-0,8%).
• After numerous instances where initial declarations failed to materialise, markets appear to be wary of the president's announcements, waiting for real action. S&P 500 futures are also down (-0.3%).
• The sentiment on Asian markets is mixed, with the Korean KOSPI (-2.6%) once again proving to be a loser, having weakened by 9% since Friday's opening.
  • The fantastic performance of the index (74% since the beginning of the year) was based primarily on the increase in semiconductor exports, especially to the United States (by nearly 700% year-on-year).
  • Currently, it is burdened not only by slightly worse risk sentiment, but also by declines in companies producing microprocessors, initiated on Friday by announcements signaling that China will not decide to buy NVIDIA chips, instead developing its own technologies in this area.
• Despite significantly better-than-expected GDP growth data for Q1 (2.1% y/y), the NIKKEI 225 also recorded declines (-0.4%), which we attribute primarily to the high deflator (3.4%), which increases already heightened inflation concerns.
  • The yen is also weakening further.
• On the currency market, a modest weakening of the dollar stands out.
  • At the top of the G10 ranking is the pound (GBPUSD+0.6%), which benefits from calmer sentiment regarding the potential resignation of Keir Starmer and slightly higher than expected data on March wage growth (4.1%).
  • The Norwegian krone (USDNOK -0.4%) is also doing well, benefiting from rising oil and LNG prices, just like other currencies of net energy exporters.
  • Slightly weaker movements are observed on the EURUSD pair (+0.1%) and CHFUSD (+0,1%).
• Following the publication of the report on the British labour market, the macroeconomic calendar today does not feature any readings that are particularly important from a market perspective.
• The results scheduled for release today, among others, are:
  • Home Depot,
  • Keysight Technologies.

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Michał Jóźwiak, Financial Markets Analyst at XTB