■ U.S. Stocks face headwind ahead of Trump speech, failing to ascend to new highs

■ EUR/USD adds 0.36% on Friday, in spite of fiscal-positive Trump commentary

■ U.S. yields moderate on Friday, with 10 year ending week at 2.47%

■ Eurozone equities see some increases, in spite of EUR strengthening

■ Oil rises to USD 52.33 per bbl ahead of OPEC/non-OPEC meeting

In spite of Trump’s inauguration and what’s forming as a reasonable start to the earnings season, markets are still refusing to set new record highs. Mr. Trump’s speech was accompanied by some increases for equity, on Friday, seeing a 0.34% daily gain. At 2,271.31 points though, the index is still about half a percentage point lower than the record 2,282 points achieved earlier this month. The Dow added a heftier 0.5% on Friday, though is down 0.3% for the week, driving further away from the elusive 20,000 point mark.

Trump’s speech included strong indications for upcoming protectionism, as he stated that “We must protect our borders from the ravages of other countries making our products, stealing our companies and destroying our jobs.” The Dollar’s rate itself, counterintuitively, seems to have had little impact from this, with EUR/USD actually adding 0.36% on Friday, ending the week at 1.0703 and USD/JPY losing 0.2% for the day.

More surprisingly, perhaps, while Trump’s victory at the elections has led to a strong selloff in bonds on anticipation that fiscal policy will replace monetary, the same credit cannot be granted to Friday’s speech, in spite of its fiscal-positive notes. The yield of the U.S. 10 year bond, which moves inversely to prices, closed at a level of 2.47% on Friday, after peaking to 2.51% ahead of the speech.

It’s hard to find much optimism in today’s markets

Things were somewhat better for Europe, with a 0.3% gain at the German DAX. Factoring in the strengthening of the Euro makes this an even more appealing investment. Declines on previous days, though, put the index flat for the week. The CAC 40 added a smaller 0.2% for Friday, and is down 1.5% for the week.

Oil prices are thus far proving most volatile among assets, having increased close to 3% on Friday’s session, peaking to USD 52.90, reflecting anticipation for the first OPEC/non-OPEC meeting scheduled to take place over the weekend in Vienna. Infusing some pessimism into the boiling oil market, the Baker Hughes oil rig count report, released later that day pointed to 551, a sharp increase compared with the previous figure, which stood at 522. The increase at the number of rigs also bears some significance to OPEC’s efforts – If production from OPEC will lead to higher supply coming from U.S. shale oil then these efforts will be substantially undermined. Investors’ reaction didn’t attribute too much thought to this though, with daily gains moderating to +1.9% at a level of USD 52.33.