Before the opening bell: the US buries the trade war with Europe (for now)

The United States will refrain from imposing new trade tariffs on Europe. In Belgium, Cofinimmo and Aedifica receive approval for their merger, subject to conditions.

For the time being, the United States will not impose new trade tariffs on eight European countries in the dispute surrounding Greenland. The news emerged on Wednesday evening after President Trump reportedly agreed on the broad outlines of a future deal together with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte. US stock markets reacted with relief. The S&P 500 (+1.2%) and the Nasdaq (+1.2%) received a boost and are once again trading close to record levels. Among individual stocks, Kraft Heinz (-5.7%) stood out. The share took a hit after Berkshire Hathaway, led by Warren Buffett, announced its intention to sell its 27.5% stake in the company. Moderna (+15.8%), by contrast, surged on positive results from a phase 2 study in skin cancer. The US chip sector also enjoyed a strong session. Intel (+11.7%), AMD (+7.7%) and Micron Technology (+6.6%) all benefited from the positive sentiment, which was further reinforced by a speech from Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang at the World Economic Forum in Davos, where he spoke about the next phase of the AI revolution.

In Asia, chip stocks are continuing that momentum this morning. Samsung Electronics initially gained 5%, but for unknown reasons saw its gain suddenly fade to just 0.9% toward the end of the trading session. Japanese chipmaker Disco Corporation (+17%) is among the strongest performers in Asia. On the Belgian stock market, the Liège-based medtech company Nyxoah is investing in additional production capacity for its sleep apnea device Genio. In addition, healthcare real estate players Aedifica and Cofinimmo received regulatory approval for their merger, albeit under certain conditions. Later today, investors will be looking ahead to the annual results of Procter & Gamble, Abbott, Alcoa and Intel.

Aedifica allowed to acquire Cofinimmo

Good news for investors in Aedifica and Cofinimmo. The Belgian Competition Authority has granted its approval for the merger between the two healthcare real estate groups. This approval comes with a condition: 300 million euro worth of healthcare real estate assets must be sold. Relative to a combined portfolio of around 12 billion euro, that amount seems limited, but the question remains who currently has the financial firepower to acquire such a package in Belgium. Many peers in the sector are grappling with elevated debt levels, despite favourable demographic trends for healthcare real estate. Still, the overall picture remains positive. This merger creates a clear European leader in healthcare real estate on the Belgian stock exchange, while removing a major source of uncertainty. That allows the merged entity to refocus on further growth across Europe.

A message to our members: invest with reason, not emotion

Emotions often take the upper hand in financial markets. Fear and greed are the classics, but recently we are also seeing a form of “revenge thinking” directed at the policies of President Trump. Calls are increasingly being heard to sell US government bonds en masse and use them as a geopolitical weapon. That may sound appealing, but is it sound financial advice for investors? Our role at Spaarvarkens is not to tell you what you want to hear, but to help you achieve solid returns by providing objective information. Despite recent headlines about the US, American government bonds still retain their status as a global safe haven in 2026, with an AA+ rating and a minimal risk of default. In crisis situations, US Treasuries have historically even outperformed various European alternatives. During the market turmoil of 2020, they proved to be the ultimate safe haven. Add to that the higher yield, transaction costs and reinvestment risk associated with other bonds, and it becomes clear that selling US government bonds often costs more than it delivers. Emotions are rarely a good guide in investing. We ourselves are not fans of investing in US government bonds due to currency risk, but we would certainly not sell them on the back of the recent Greenland-related emotions either. Unless, of course, you want to “vote with your feet”, just as Warren Buffett did yesterday with Kraft Heinz (see link).

Did you know…

that Warren Buffett was closely involved in the merger between Kraft and Heinz ten years ago? The fact that current management now wants to partially unwind that merger is seen as an important reason why Buffett is willing to sell his stake in Kraft Heinz today.