Like their European counterparts yesterday and today, they are being weighed on by heightened tensions between the United States and Europe over Greenland. At 5 p.m. CET, the Dow Jones was down 0.99% at 48,868 points, the Nasdaq Composite fell 1.36% to 23,195 points and the S&P 500 slipped 1.08% to 6,865 points.

To pressure European countries into giving Donald Trump a free hand in Greenland, the US president threatened European countries backing the autonomous territory of the Kingdom of Denmark with an additional 10% tariff from February 1. The countries concerned are Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Finland and the UK.

If the United States fails to secure agreement to buy Greenland, the Trump administration could move to an additional 25% tax on imports of products from those countries from June 1.

European indices reacted sharply, fuelling fears - rightly so - of an escalation in tensions with potential retaliatory measures by European countries.

They are considering imposing tariffs or restrictions worth €93bn on US products entering the European Union. In addition, Emmanuel Macron is pushing to use the anti-coercion instrument.

It was adopted at the end of 2023 to protect the European Union from economic pressure exerted by third countries. It can, in particular, allow companies from the targeted country to be excluded from public procurement tenders, and also block access to the European market for that country's banks and service companies, which could be particularly damaging for US tech giants. Protection of their patents or copyrights could also be suspended.

Since then, Donald Trump has escalated again, specifically targeting France to force Emmanuel Macron to join his "Peace Council". The US president is threatening to impose 200% tariffs on French wines and champagnes, which has had little effect on the most exposed companies: Laurent-Perrier (-0.22%), Lanson-BCC (flat), Maison Pommery & Associés (+0.88%). Pernod Ricard's and Rémy Cointreau's revenue from wine and champagne is marginal.

The French president has since spoken from Davos, Switzerland, calling Donald Trump's threats "unacceptable" and stressing "that we must not passively accept the law of the strongest".

These geopolitical strains, which threaten to blow up NATO, have logically benefited safe-haven assets. An ounce of gold reached a record high, with an all-time peak of $4,749.84 in the afternoon. Silver is not far behind, also setting a record at $95.89 an ounce.

Moves were also seen in the bond market. The yield on the 10-year US Treasury is at its highest level since late August 2025. It rose as high as 4.3105%.

In currency markets, the euro strengthened against the greenback (+0.77%) and at around 5 p.m. it was trading at $1.1735.

Meanwhile, bitcoin fell (-2.34%) to return to levels seen 10 days ago, at $90,402.

If investors have plenty to contend with on the geopolitical front, the macroeconomic calendar is, fortunately, empty of any indicators in the US. The rest of the week will be far busier, mainly featuring the final US Q3 GDP reading, as well as data on household spending and income and on consumer confidence.

By contrast, company news was heavier today. 3M tumbled (-7.50% to $155.22). While quarterly results were broadly solid, the industrial giant's 2026 outlook was rather disappointing.

Micron Technology said on Saturday it intends to acquire Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing's (PSMC) P5 fabrication site in Taiwan for $1.8bn in cash.

Moderna and Merck on Tuesday announced positive five-year results for their experimental vaccine against high-risk melanoma, developed in combination with the immunotherapy Keytruda.