US stocks struggle as ‘America First’ bets backfire

When Donald Trump rang the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange on December 12, the chants of “USA” from the trading floor epitomised the investor exuberance that had greeted the president-elect’s victory and powered US stocks to a series of record highs.

But just a few months later, investors betting that the new president’s America First agenda would boost US equities and the dollar, while hitting the currencies and stocks of its trading partners, have been confounded….