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Trump’s first 100 days: the first week in charts

Donald Trump’s first week as US president captured the world’s attention as he started to enact his populist and protectionist policies. The reaction in financial markets can be seen in a series of charts.

US flag
Source: Bloomberg

Day one: Friday 20 January

Donald Trump is sworn in as the 45th president of the United States. The Dow Jones Industrial Average had fallen for five consecutive trading days in the run-up to inauguration day.

But the index of leading American stocks rose on the day itself, and in the following trading days has hit new record highs above 20,000. 

Day four: Monday 23 January

The president gets down to business after introducing his new team over the weekend. He meets with business leaders and pledges to cut red-tape by three-quarters. He then pulls the US out of the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal, prompting Australia to pledge to keep the deal going with a 'TPP 12 minus one' agreement.

Despite widespread weakness in the US dollar on the day, the Australian dollar struggled to make any real gains and has since slipped back.

Day five: Tuesday 24 January

Amid a barrage of executive orders, Trump signs two orders that give the go ahead to two controversial oil pipelines - the Dakota Access project and the Keystone XL pipelines - as long as US steel is used. Trump’s predecessor, Barack Obama, had refused to give the go ahead to the Keystone XL pipeline because it would carry tar sands oil from Canada and would therefore contribute to climate change.

TC Energy Corporation, which wants to build the Keystone XL pipeline, saw its share price soar on the day and early the following day when the stock hit an all-time high. It has since come off the highs. 

Shares in Energy Transfer Partners, which wants to complete the last piece of the 1,172 mile long Dakota Access project pipeline, also rose strongly on the announcement, before the gains are pared. 

Day six: Wednesday 25 January

Trump signs yet more executive orders, including one that pledges a wall on the border between the US and Mexico. The US president says Mexico will pay for the wall one way or the other, while Mexican president Pena Nieto condemns the order and says his country won’t pay.

The news has little impact on the Mexican peso, which had become a proxy for the outcome of the US presidential election ahead of the result last November and had tumbled against the US dollar when Trump won. However, it’s now benefitting from general weakness in the US dollar.

Day seven: Thursday 26 January

The White House suggests that the new wall between the US and Mexico could be funded by a 20% tax on imports. Mexico responds by saying that this will only make US consumers pay for the wall through higher prices for fridges, washing machines and a host of other goods imported from Mexico.

Meanwhile, British prime minister Theresa May is the first foreign leader to land in the US for talks with the new US president. She says she wants to renew the special relationship between the UK and US and says interventionist wars like those in Iraq and Afghanistan are a thing of the past. She meets with Trump in the White House the following day, where the leaders reaffirm a commitment to Nato and Trump say he wants a quick trade deal with the UK once the country leaves the EU.

The pound actually drops against the dollar during the two days May is in the US, although it had been on a tear before that after a series of economic data suggested the UK has so far been resilient in the wake of the Brexit vote.

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