On Wednesday, January 21, in the United States, President Trump stated at the Davos World Economic Forum that he would not use force to acquire Greenland. This announcement led to a sharp increase in S&P 500 index futures, easing concerns that had previously roiled the market and sparked selling of dollar-denominated assets.
In the morning on Wednesday, S&P 500 index futures rose by 0.4%, Dow Jones Industrial Average index futures gained 76 points, a 0.2% increase, and Nasdaq 100 index futures were up by 0.3%.
During his speech in Davos, Switzerland, Trump talked about the financial and military burden he believes the United States bears within NATO.
“We’ve never asked for anything, nor have we gotten anything. Unless I decide to use excessive force, we may not get anything. Frankly, in that case, we would be unstoppable. But I won’t do that. Do you understand? Now, everyone is saying, ‘Oh, that’s great.’ This may be the most important statement I’ve made because people thought I would use force. I don’t need to use force. I don’t want to use force. I won’t use force,” Trump said at the Davos forum.
After the president made the above remarks, the price of 10-year US Treasury bonds rose and yields fell. The US dollar index fell along with other currencies.
On Tuesday, due to Trump’s insistence that the US must acquire Greenland and not ruling out the possibility of using force to seize the territory, the stock market saw a significant decline. The Dow Jones 30 index fell by more than 870 points, a decline of about 1.8%, while the S&P 500 index dropped by around 2.1%. The decline in tech stocks triggered a sell-off, with the Nasdaq Composite index falling by 2.4% on that day.
The three major stock indexes all recorded their worst single-day performance since October 10. This selling frenzy also led to expectations of the S&P 500 index and the Nasdaq index dipping into negative territory in 2026.
On Wednesday, the US dollar came under pressure again, with the dollar index falling by 0.2%.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Benset told reporters in Davos on Wednesday that the Trump administration was “not worried” about the previous day’s sell-off.