With US President Barack Obama having given his farewell speech, the rhetoric of president-elect Donald Trump via twitter and news outlets now becomes very real.
2017 was never going to be boring
1. Trump: Trump in his first press conference spent some of his time defending himself against "nonsense" intelligence reports and stated he would not divest himself of his business holdings. He also reaffirmed a border tax on US companies that shift production overseas, sending his message to car companies saw the stocks of auto makers mixed in US trading, Ford motor company fell 2% while General motors rallied 1.1% in overnight trade.
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Another important US earnings season
With US equity markets close to all-time highs, investors will be looking for a strong earnings season to justify rich valuations. It should also provide investors with a chance to assess how CEOs view many of the macro themes playing out, such as Trumps proposed fiscal stimulus. (This video was produced in commercial partnership between Fairfax Media and IG Markets)
2. Pharma cops a spray: Trump openly criticised the pharmaceutical and bio tech sector sending the healthcare index down 2.6% in early trade putting a lid on recent gains in the Nasdaq. Traders were expecting the President elect would be good for the industry with many stocks making strong gains since November. The coming reporting season only days away will provide many companies an opportunity to state not only there trading results but also commentary around future business.
At risk is the Pacific trade pact involving Australia and further risk of a trade war around protectionism. Healthcare in Australia has been one of the better performing sectors up 2.6% in new year trade.
Companies like Mayne Pharma with a portfolio of generic drugs recently purchased from Teva/Allergran is one Australian company with a strong US exposure that will be closely watched in the coming months.
3. Currencies: The USD index fell back to 101.55 Â with this markets saw other currencies move higher with the AUDUSD making a strong move to .7450, this will provide some pressure to the Australian session today. USDJPY traded in the 115 range and may bring some pressure onto the Nikkei in today's trade.
![President-elect Donald Trump underwhelmed markets with his speech.](/web/20170112002926im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/t/p/t/9/j/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gtpujd.png/1484172001703.jpg)
4. Bellamy's: Closely monitored today will be BAL Bellamy's after surprising the market yesterday coming out of suspension 2 days early and falling a further $2.00 to open at $3.84 a dramatic fall from grace as the stock had traded over $12 mid 2016.Â
5. Miners to shine: BHP's ADR is 1.1% matching at $26.31, higher on a stronger iron ore price.
6. ASX: For our market the SPI futures show a 10 point gain. We are expecting a strong open in resources with across the board gains in metals and mainly flat overnight Oil settlement at 52.75 a barrel.
7. Gold: Gold shines again in Australian resources after making good gains overnight, the Australian dollar Gold price remains above $1600 oz and with the USD gold making highs of $1198.36 an ounce the gold resource sector looks well supported for today's trade.
8. Market highlights:Â
SPI futures up 16 points or 0.3% to 5745
AUD +1% to 74.38Â US cents (overnight high 74.72)
On Wall St, Dow +0.4%, S&P; 500 +0.2%, Nasdaq +0.1%
In New York, BHP +0.9%, Rio +1.8%
In Europe, Stoxx 50 flat, FTSE +0.2%, CAC flat, DAX +0.5%
Spot gold flat at $US1188.88 an ounce
Brent crude +3.2% to $US55.37 a barrel
Iron ore +1.2% to $US80.41 a tonne
LME aluminium +0.5% to $US1758 a tonne
LME copper -0.8% to $US5714 a tonne
10-year bond yield: US 2.37%; Germany 0.32%; Australia 2.73%
 This column was produced in commercial partnership
  between Fairfax Media and IG