Morning Economic Report 2/19/25

Markets around the globe make little headway. Trump warns on not only 25% tariff for autos but now on pharma and semiconductors by Apr 2. Japan's exports and machine orders were a touch disappointing. New Zealand RBNZ cuts by 50bps as expected, predicts futures cuts will be in 25bps increments. China bourses still enjoying strength in tech companies. UK metrics including PPI and CPI services fail to inspire and Europe generally drifts. FOMC minutes are awaited. DAX -0.56%, CAC -0.65%, FTSE -0.30%, Euro STOXX600 -0.29%. The USD gains a footing on RBNZ cut, and chat on FOMC minutes that are likely to show members not willing to cut rates, DXY 107.21. Gold 2945. BTC $96,359.