Europe and China are shining as US exceptionalism declines

See the upcoming days for Rae Wee’s European and Global Markets

Monday’s market movement continued the story of investors falling from their love with our stocks and instead flocking to their European and Chinese peers.

Wall Street futures tainted the profit barrier earlier in the day, failing to maintain Dip-Buying Rally, which boosted all three major US stock indices last week.

The disastrous reversal of US stocks on Monday could come from US Treasury Secretary Scott Bescent, who commented on Sunday that President Donald Trump was “no guarantee” that the world’s biggest economy would avoid a recession.

Investors are seeking evacuation from the turbulent US stock market by pouring into a kind of fund that is traded on exchanges that offer trade-offs.

However, another story unfolds throughout the Atlantic.

Investors optimistic about Germany’s fiscal reset plan have poured money into European stocks, increasing the pan-continental Stoxx 600 by more than 7% per year.

Germany’s DAX has similarly scored over 15% compared to a 4% decline in the S&P 500 index.

European equity futures again pointed to a strong opening on Monday, with Eurostocks 50 futures rising 0.17% and DAX futures rising 0.35%.

The German Parliamentary Budget Committee on Sunday approved a plan for a significant increase in state borrowing to strengthen defenses and restore economic growth.

The bill will include changes to the infrastructure fund and borrowing rules of 500 billion euros ($540 billion) but a two-thirds majority will be required for the legislative vote scheduled for Tuesday.

Similarly, in China, once beaten stocks emerged as not beneficial to Trump’s whipping tariff policy.

Coupled with a major rallies of high-tech share following the flashy debut of Chinese AI startup Deepseek’s R1 reasoning model, Hong Kong’s Hangsen Index (where many Chinese companies are listed) has risen nearly 20% so far this year.

The situation in China is also improving.

Official data on Monday showed that retail sales growth was faster in January-February, even as unemployment rates rose and factory output eased.

A day ago, the state council issued what is known as a “special action plan” to promote domestic consumption, characterized by measures such as increasing income for residents and establishing a childcare subsidy system.

It came days after financial regulators pledged to ease consumer credit quotas and loan terms.