00:00to Joshua Mahoney, the Chief Market Analyst at Scope Markets. Good to see you back on the
00:04program, Joshua. So we saw some green numbers over there in Asia, a good first day of trading
00:10after the Lunar New Year holidays. What's behind that?
00:15Yeah, I mean, obviously, they've got plenty to catch up on. And if you were to look at
00:20the price action we've seen within US markets, you would probably say that they might have
00:25been in for a bit of a rough ride. But of course, a lot has happened over the course
00:28of that period. Most notably, we saw that Supreme Court decision and the realignment
00:35towards a base case tariff of 15%. That, of course, comes to the detriment of those in
00:41the UK where they have a relatively low rate because they already have a trade deficit with
00:46the US. It comes to the benefit of the likes of Canada, China, Brazil and India, who had
00:52higher rates and now have seen those dropped. So you've got a better trading condition with
00:58the US. And we've also seen a record break in numbers in terms of spending around holidays,
01:02the holiday period in China anyway. So between the tariffs, diversification across the globe
01:09and a little bit of an uptick in terms of sentiment around the Chinese consumer, you can see why
01:13we're seeing a relatively strong open to Chinese trade after the Lunar New Year.
01:20So we've talked a little bit about these tariffs and the uncertainty over them. And we've talked
01:24about how that's affected the United States and Asia. But what about other markets around
01:28the world, Europe, for example?
01:31Yeah, I mean, it's really interesting because, you know, for years, we've sort of looked at markets
01:35in Europe and being like, God, they're so boring. You know, why don't we have all these amazing
01:38growth companies that the US has? And we'd be growing at a much faster clip. That's why everyone
01:44always says, just put your money in the S&P 500. It gives you 10% every year. Well, we're
01:48starting
01:49to see those narratives that have previously benefited the US suddenly provide the reason
01:55to not put all your eggs in one basket. Everyone's now seeing these boring stocks as the place
02:00to be. And so the diversification we've seen in US markets over the last month have also
02:06seen a diversification out of the US and into areas like the UK, because people are trying
02:11to essentially judge who the losers are within the AI trade. And that means you need to go
02:16back to your bread and butter companies that aren't necessarily tech companies. And that
02:21does benefit the likes of the FTSE 100, for instance, which has continued to outperform its
02:27US counterparts. So it's in a relatively hot streak at the moment. And I think that's going
02:31to continue.
02:32Well, there has been one big growth company in Europe, hasn't there? Nova Nordisk, which at
02:37one stage was going from strength to strength. However, its share price has fallen after
02:42two things going on, disappointing drug trial results. And also, it's cutting the price of
02:48its We Govi drug in the US. Do you think it can bounce back from this?
02:53It's been a roller coaster ride for people investing. I mean, it went up 280 odd percent,
02:59and they've pretty much eradicated that entire rise now. And it's seemingly just a one-way train
03:05lower. Ultimately, they're really just trying to bank on this one product, which is the weight
03:12loss drug, right? And they do have a pill format that's just come out in January. So they're hoping
03:16that they're going to be able to lift sales off the back of that. But when their trial results come
03:21out and they're worse than Eli Lilly, then what are you going to do? I mean, ultimately, then you
03:26just have to beat them on price, which means constantly undercutting your profit margins. And so
03:32lower profits, worse trial results than your competitors, it's not really a great place to
03:38be. So I wouldn't necessarily bank on the turnaround story coming anytime soon.
03:43Joshua, great to get your insights today. Thanks so much for coming on the program.
03:46Joshua Mahoney there from Scope Markets.
03:48Mr.
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