Retail traders plough $67bn into US stocks

In the present day’s agenda: Greenland hits again at Trump; Europe’s new hard-power leaders; Reeves’ Spring Assertion; and exploring London’s authentic time machine

Good morning. We begin at the moment with an unique story from Wall Road the place retail merchants stay upbeat on US shares whilst skilled cash managers are slashing their publicity to the market on fears over Donald Trump’s insurance policies.

How a lot has been invested? Internet inflows from retail buyers into US equities and change traded funds have registered $67bn in 2025, down solely barely from the $71bn spent within the closing quarter of 2024, in response to information supplier VandaTrack. Goldman Sachs information additionally reveals retail buyers have been internet sellers of US shares in simply seven periods this yr, regardless of the S&P 500 having fallen on 25 days. In distinction, huge buyers tracked by Financial institution of America made the “greatest ever” reduce to their US fairness allocations in March.

What’s behind the inflow? Have-a-go buyers appear to have continued their “purchase the dip” tactic, which “has been an basically foolproof technique for 4 of the previous 5 years”, stated Steve Sosnick, chief market strategist at Interactive Brokers. Regardless of intense turbulence this yr, “buyers nonetheless seem extra involved about lacking a dip-buying alternative” than they’re about additional market declines, stated Jim Paulsen, an impartial market strategist. Read the full story.

Right here’s what else we’re conserving tabs on at the moment:

• Financial information: Spain’s February producer inflation figures, Germany’s Ifo enterprise local weather index and the US client confidence index for March are launched. 

• Germany: The twenty first Bundestag meets for its inaugural session after the February 23 elections.

• UK: Financial Conduct Authority chair Ashley Alder and chief govt Nikhil Rathi seem earlier than parliament.

• Firms: HSBC hosts its International Funding Summit in Hong Kong, whereas Shell publishes its annual report. See our Week Ahead newsletter for the complete record of corporations reporting at the moment.

Resulting from a technical concern, some readers of FirstFT could not have acquired the publication yesterday. We apologise for the inconvenience.

5 extra prime tales

1. High US officers unintentionally shared labeled particulars about final week’s army strikes on Yemen with a journalist in an unofficial messaging group, in a shocking breach of safety that triggered uproar in Washington. Vice-president JD Vance and defence secretary Pete Hegseth have been among the many members of a Sign chat group that discussed operational details of the attack.

• ‘Heads should roll’: Regulation enforcement companies are silent on what authorized consultants say could possibly be a violation of the US espionage act.

• Extra tariffs: Trump stated the US would impose a 25 per cent tariff on all imports from any nation that buys oil from Venezuela.

2. France and the UK are actually the leaders of exhausting energy in Europe, in response to the Czech prime minister, regardless of Britain’s exit from the EU. “That is the time when stronger states should play the larger position, these with concrete energy, which is France and Nice Britain, the European nuclear powers,” Petr Fiala told the Financial Times.

3. Greenland’s authorities has publicly dressed down US President Donald Trump, saying it had not invited any American officers to the Arctic island amid widespread anger over Washington’s makes an attempt to woo Nuuk. Richard Milne has extra on the assertion concerning the planned “private visit” this week.

4. Unique: China is contemplating together with companies in a multibillion-dollar subsidy programme to stimulate consumption, in response to officers and lecturers. The potential assist for journey, tourism and sports activities would come along with an current “trade-in” programme for items comparable to cellphones or automobiles. Here’s more on Beijing’s efforts to boost weak domestic demand.

• Massive Learn on China: A painful shift away from low-cost, labour-intensive manufacturing might have repercussions for Chinese stability and growth.

• Chinese language AI start-ups: The nation’s prime teams are re-evaluating their methods as they race to remain competitive following DeepSeek’s success.

5. Israel’s army has drawn up plans to reoccupy Gaza in a bid to lastly defeat Hamas. The brand new army management, with the unofficial backing of Israeli far-right ministers, has formulated an excessive proposal to fight the militant group, stated a number of folks briefed on the plans.

Information in-depth

Why was Heathrow airport gradual to renew operations after a substation fireplace? As issues develop over the resilience of the UK’s important infrastructure, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer yesterday stated “there are questions” for airport executives to reply over the size of disruption at Europe’s largest aviation hub.

We’re additionally studying and listening to . . . 

Chart of the day

The UK chancellor’s speech to MPs tomorrow has loads of dangerous information, together with a dark forecast from the Workplace for Funds Duty that’s anticipated to roughly halve Britain’s development forecast in 2025. Analysts warn the Spring Assertion could possibly be the harbinger of an even more difficult full Budget in the autumn.

Take a break from the information . . . 

Because the clocks go ahead this weekend, the FT’s Ian Bott walks a superb (meridian) line by way of the birthplace of GMT — the Royal Observatory Greenwich, London’s authentic time machine.