The effect of a Trump tweet

President Donald Trump does a lot of things differently to previous incumbents of the Oval Office.

One of the more significant is his addiction to Twitter and his habit of using the social media platform to fire staff and, more worryingly, announce changes in policy.

More recently, this has included giving his 59.1 million followers updates on how trade talks have been going with China.

One minute the talks are going great, the next they are going nowhere and there are renewed threats of stringent tariffs.

Every time President Trump tweets the markets naturally react as they are barometers of sentiment, looking for signs of future value.

A Trump tweet in the middle of the night can trigger short-term consternation and cause financial advisers to grow a few more grey hairs.

Thankfully, any temporary blip caused by the President’s running commentary on issues such as trade talks balances itself out in due course.

But I think most advisers will hope that the next President of the United States is a little less active on social media.