Stocks rally as Trump drops Greenland tariff threats

Stocks rallied Thursday after President Donald Trump dialled back threats to hit key European countries with tariffs over their opposition to a US takeover of Greenland.Gains were fuelled also by a surge in tech stocks as the artificial intelligence trade roared back into the spotlight after the head of top AI chipmaker Nvidia said the sector needed “trillions of dollars” more investment.Markets had been rattled this week by the US president saying he would hammer several nations — including Germany, France, Britain and Denmark — with levies for their pushback against his grab for Greenland, a Danish autonomous territory.But relief came Wednesday when Trump backed down on threats to seize the North Atlantic island by force from ally Denmark and retracted his tariff threat.”That was enough to trigger the so-called TACO trade — ‘Trump Always Chickens Out’ — and markets responded with one of their strongest rallies in recent months,” said Fawad Razaqzada, market analyst at Forex.com.- Trade wars ‘biggest concern’ -But analysts said there was no guarantee that Europe-US relations had improved durably, a concern that capped gains.”The Greenland situation may have calmed down, but there are still enough unanswered questions,” said AJ Bell investment director Russ Mould.  “It’s more about financial markets regaining balance than moving into top gear.”One lesson from this week’s price swings was that “financial markets fear tariffs more than geopolitical risks”, noted Kathleen Brooks, research director at XTB. “Trade wars are the biggest concern for markets.”Advances in Asian equities earlier were led by tech-heavy markets Tokyo, Taipei and Seoul, with the latter topping 5,000 points for the first time as chip companies enjoyed bumper gains.The surge came after Nvidia boss Jensen Huang told the World Economic Forum in Davos that the infrastructure to develop and power generative AI models will require further “trillions” of dollars in investment.He told delegates that the AI boom “has started the largest infrastructure buildout in human history”.The remarks helped boost South Korean chip leaders Samsung and SK hynix, tech investment giant SoftBank in Japan, and European heavyweights ASML and STMicroelectronics.French video game giant Ubisoft lost more than a third of its value in a single session, with its stock closing more than 39 percent lower, after the “Assassin’s Creed” maker announced it expected to make huge losses this year and needed to restructure drastically.- Key figures at around 1640 GMT -New York – Dow: UP 0.9 percent at 49,517.60New York – S&P 500: UP 0.7 percent at 6,924.82New York – NASDAQ: UP 1.0 percent at 23,465.06London – FTSE 100: UP 0.1 percent at 10,150.05 (close)Paris – CAC 40: UP 1.0 percent at 8,148.89 (close)Frankfurt – DAX: UP 1.2 percent at 24,856.47 (close)Tokyo – Nikkei 225: UP 1.7 percent at 53,688.89 (close)Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: UP 0.2 percent at 26,629.96 (close)Shanghai – Composite: UP 0.1 percent at 4,122.58 (close)Euro/dollar: UP at $1.1748 from $1.1683 on WednesdayPound/dollar: UP at $1.3496 from $1.3418Dollar/yen: DOWN at 158.28 yen from 158.43 yenEuro/pound: DOWN at 87.05 pence from 87.08 penceBrent North Sea Crude: DOWN 1.3 percent at $64.42 per barrelWest Texas Intermediate: DOWN 1.3 percent at $59.82 per barrelburs/jh/rlp

Trump a inauguré son “Conseil de paix” et appelé la Russie à mettre fin à la guerre en Ukraine

Donald Trump a inauguré jeudi à Davos son nouveau “Conseil de paix”, en présence d’une vingtaine de dirigeants de pays ayant rallié cette instance placée sous sa coupe, avant d’appeler la Russie à mettre fin au conflit en Ukraine à l’issue d’une rencontre avec Volodymyr Zelensky.”La guerre doit prendre fin”, a lancé en marge du Forum économique mondial le président américain à des journalistes, qui l’interrogeaient sur le message qu’il voulait faire passer à son homologue russe Vladimir Poutine.Le chef de l’Etat ukrainien a de son côté annoncé être parvenu à un accord avec Donald Trump sur les garanties de sécurité et que les documents en vue d’arrêter les hostilités déclenchées par l’invasion de l’Ukraine en février 2022 étaient “presque prêts”, tout en évoquant, sans autres précisions, des discussions “trilatérales” Ukraine/Etats-Unis/Russie devant se dérouler cette semaine aux Emirats arabes unis. Mais “tout tourne autour de la partie orientale de notre pays. Tout tourne autour des territoires. C’est le problème que nous n’avons pas encore résolu”, a reconnu M. Zelensky.S’autoproclamant faiseur de paix, Donald Trump, qui a quitté en fin d’après-midi la Suisse, a dans la matinée signé la charte fondatrice de son “Conseil de paix”, qu’il va présider et censé œuvrer au règlement des conflits dans le monde, “en coordination”, a-t-il promis, avec les Nations unies.- Fidèles alliés -Dans le parterre de dirigeants invités ayant accepté de s’y joindre se trouvaient certains de ses très fidèles alliés, tels le président argentin Javier Milei et le Premier ministre hongrois Viktor Orban.Le Maroc, la Turquie ou l’Indonésie faisaient aussi partie de la vingtaine de signataires.Sur une cinquantaine d’invitations envoyées, environ 35 dirigeants ont déjà répondu “oui”, avait fait savoir mercredi un haut responsable américain.La France avait déjà dit “non” et le Royaume Uni, un allié clé des Etats-Unis, a refusé jeudi de signer.Mais de nombreux Etats du Moyen-Orient sont partants, dont l’Arabie saoudite et le Qatar.Donald Trump a par ailleurs déclaré que Vladimir Poutine avait accepté l’invitation, que Moscou a seulement dit “étudier”.Le ticket d’entrée dans le Conseil est d’un milliard de dollars pour un siège permanent. – Appel au Hamas -Concernant le Hamas, ses membres “doivent déposer les armes et, s’ils ne le font pas, ce sera leur fin”, a mis en garde M. Trump dans un bref discours à l’occasion de cette cérémonie.Première annonce du “Conseil”, dont Israël a accepté de faire partie : le point de passage de Rafah entre l’Egypte et la bande de Gaza rouvrira “dans les deux sens” la semaine prochaine, a déclaré l’administrateur de ce territoire palestinien nouvellement nommé par cette alliance, Ali Shaath. Le président américain a profité de l’occasion pour parler de son plan de “Nouveau Gaza”, comprenant la construction d’un complexe luxueux sur sa façade maritime, et affirmer que l’Iran souhaitait entamer des discussions avec les Etats-Unis. A propos du Groenland, après des semaines de déclarations agressives, il a subitement annoncé mercredi soir “le cadre d’un futur accord” avec le secrétaire général de l’Otan Mark Rutte et levé ses menaces douanières autant que militaires.Il y a “encore beaucoup de travail à faire” pour parvenir à un arrangement sur ce territoire autonome danois, a cependant confié à l’AFP M. Rutte, qui, a rappelé Copenhague, ne peut pas négocier de manière unilatérale sur ce dossier.Le Groenland veut pour sa part “continuer un dialogue pacifique”, dans le respect de son droit à l’autodétermination et de son intégrité territoriale, et personne hormis cette île et le Danemark n’est habilité à conclure des accords sur son avenir, a averti son Premier ministre Jens-Frederik Nielsen.    Dans ce contexte, Donald Trump a agité jeudi le spectre de “grosses représailles” si les Etats européens commençaient à vendre des titres de dette américaine ou des actions dans le but de faire pression sur Washington.

Storms, heavy rain kill 14 across Afghanistan

Severe storms and a rain-triggered landslide have killed at least 14 people across Afghanistan, officials said, with residents facing further risks on Thursday as heavy snow hit the country.Strong wind and heavy rain in Kandahar killed six children on Wednesday, damaging homes and causing significant financial losses in several districts, the emergency department in the southern province said.An avalanche also killed one person in Parwan province, west of the capital Kabul.In total, “owing to the snow and rain, 11 people” were killed across six provinces in the country’s north, centre and south, including the Kandahar and Parwan incidents, a spokesperson for the National Disaster Management Authority told AFP.In a separate incident in eastern Nuristan province, a landslide triggered by heavy rain struck a house in Quraish village on Wednesday, killing three members of the same family and injuring two others.”Two 10-year-old girls and a teenage boy were killed,” Nuristan provincial government spokesman Fraidoon Samim told AFP.In central Ghazni province, an AFP correspondent said that around 80 centimetres (31 inches) of snow fell over the past 24 hours, forcing the closure of markets and blocking roads.Heavy snow in many provinces and Kabul has also caused traffic accidents.Afghanistan frequently experiences deadly floods, landslides and storms, particularly in remote areas with fragile infrastructure, leaving communities vulnerable to extreme weather.strs-iw/mjw/md

US touts ‘New Gaza’ filled with luxury real estate

US officials on Thursday presented their vision for a “New Gaza” that would turn the shattered Palestinian territory into a glitzy resort of skyscrapers by the sea, saying the transformation could emerge in three years.The war in Gaza, sparked by Hamas’s October 2023 attack on Israel, left much of the Palestinian territory damaged or destroyed and forced most of its residents to flee their homes.A US-brokered ceasefire took effect last October, reducing the level of bombing and fighting, but for most Gazans, the humanitarian disaster has endured three months on.”We’re going to be very successful in Gaza. It’s going to be a great thing to watch,” President Donald Trump said while presenting his controversial “Board of Peace” conflict-resolution body in Davos.”I’m a real estate person at heart… and I said, look at this location on the sea. Look at this beautiful piece of property. What it could be for so many people,” he said at the World Economic Forum.His son-in-law Jared Kushner, who has no official title but is one of Trump’s envoys for the Gaza ceasefire, said his “master plan” aimed for “catastrophic success”.With a slide showing dozens of shiny terraced apartment towers overlooking a tree-lined promenade, he promised a Mediterranean utopia rising from the scarred Gaza landscape.”In the Middle East they build cities like this, you know for two or three million people, they build this in three years,” Kushner said.”And so stuff like this is very doable if we make it happen.”He touted investments of at least $25 billion to rebuild destroyed infrastructure and public services.Within 10 years, the territory’s GDP would be $10 billion, and households would enjoy average income of $13,000 a year thanks to “100-percent full employment and opportunity for everybody there”, he said.”It could be a hope. It could be a destination, have a lot of industry and really be a place that the people there can thrive.”- ‘Amazing’ opportunities -Kushner said the so-called National Committee for the Administration of Gaza (NCAG) had enlisted help from Israeli real estate developer Yakir Gabay.”He’s volunteered to do this not for profit, really because of his heart he wants to do this,” Kushner said.”So the next 100 days, we’re going to continue to just be heads down and focused on making sure this is implemented.”Trump had earlier in the conflict floated his vision of turning Gaza into a “Riviera of the Middle East”, sparking outrage around the world.Notably absent from Kushner’s presentation was Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, whose country had spearheaded in 2025 a reconstruction plan for Gaza supported by Arab nations and welcomed by the European Union.According to a brief statement from his office, Sisi flew home at dawn on Thursday, hours after he and Trump exchanged praise in a tete-a-tete, with the US president calling him “a great leader, a great guy”.Ali Shaath, Gaza’s recently appointed administrator under Trump’s “Board of Peace”, has said the Egyptian plan was the “foundation” of his committee’s reconstruction project.A top UN official warned this month that Gazans were living in “inhumane” conditions even as the US-backed truce entered its second phase.Entire neighbourhoods, hospitals and schools have been heavily damaged or destroyed, forcing hundreds of thousands of people to live in makeshift shelters.Kushner said 85 percent of Gaza’s economic output had been aid for a long time.”That’s not sustainable. It doesn’t give these people dignity. It doesn’t give them hope,” he said.He insisted that the full disarming of Hamas, as called for in the October ceasefire, would convince firms and donors to commit to the territory.”We’ll announce a lot of the contributions that will be made in a couple of weeks in Washington,” he said.”There’ll be amazing investment opportunities.”Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack on Israel resulted in the deaths of 1,221 people, and 251 people were taken hostage that day, including 44 who were dead.Israel’s retaliatory assault on Gaza has killed at least 71,562 people, according to figures from the territory’s health ministry that the United Nations considers reliable.The ministry also said 477 Palestinians have been killed since the ceasefire took effect on October 10.