Market Reactions and Consumer Sentiment Amid Political Shifts

Markets reacted positively to US President-elect Trump nominating the financier Bessent as treasury secretary. Investors prefer orthodoxy, predictability, and coherence from economic policy; there were fears that some of the candidates may not possess those attributes. Bessent does. Bessent has said he regards taxing US consumers via trade tariffs as a bargaining tool—essentially the stance in Trump’s first term. Others in the cabinet disagree, but investors will be pleased there is one voice of trade tax moderation.