Trump Fuels European Stock Swings In Sign of Things to Come

(Bloomberg) -- Days before his inauguration, Donald Trump is moving stock markets with comments on everything from defense to renewable energy, and even Greenland.

Shares in firms exposed to wind energy including Orsted A/S, Siemens Energy AG and Vestas Wind Systems A/S all fell more than 6% on Wednesday after the US president-elect said he would seek to have no wind farms constructed during his second term.

Makers of tanks and missiles got a boost after Trump called on NATO members to spend the equivalent of 5% of their economic output on defense, more than double the current target. Shares in Norwegian missile maker Kongsberg Gruppen ASA gained as much as 4.1%, while Sweden’s Saab AB was up 5.4% and Germany’s Rheinmetall AG rose 5.3%.

Meanwhile, a CNN report that Trump is considering declaring a national economic emergency to provide legal ground for universal tariffs dealt a fresh blow to shares of automakers and luxury-goods stocks. Stellantis NV, the maker of Fiat and Alfa Romeo cars, fell as much as 3.1%, while Louis Vuitton owner LVMH slid as much as 2.2%.

European stocks with the greatest exposure to tariffs have underperformed the market since last year on concern that any fallout from a potential trade war could hit company profits, with a UBS Group AG basket tracking such names falling around 8%.

Wednesday’s moves are an early taste of the volatility investors can expect from Trump’s term in office. His comments have sparked moves in stocks as far away as Australia, with small-cap miner Energy Transition Minerals, which has a rare earths project in Greenland, surging 52% after Trump reiterated his interest in acquiring the island.

“At this stage, his statements raise questions and create uncertainty about the trade and foreign policy he intends to implement the day after his inauguration on Jan. 20,” a team led by CIC Market Solutions economist Adrien Regnier-Laurent wrote in a note.

--With assistance from Paul Jarvis.

(Updates with autos and luxury stocks in fourth paragraph.)