Washington (AFP) – Global financial markets were rocked on Wednesday by Donald Trump’s announcement of sweeping tariffs, targeting China and the European Union in particular, with the risk of undermining the international economy. The US president laid out the new measures after Wall Street stock markets had closed. But his announcement still rippled through the markets that were open at the time, sending stock futures and bond yields lower, while gold surged to a new record high.
As the evening progressed, US futures fell sharply, with the Dow Jones dropping 2.4 percent at around 2345 GMT, the Nasdaq index plunging 4.2 percent, and the broader futures index for the S&P 500 falling 3.5 percent. Wall Street has largely suffered from Trump’s various trade announcements in recent weeks. “The silver lining for investors could be that this is only a starting point for negotiations with other countries and ultimately tariff rates will come down across the board,” Northlight Asset Management’s Chris Zaccarelli wrote in a note to clients. “But for now traders are shooting first and asking questions later,” he added.
The share price of technology companies whose components are produced abroad also fell sharply, with Apple losing 7.4 percent after-hours, Nvidia falling 5.2 percent, and TSMC declining 5.9 percent. Futures markets are typically much more volatile than the regular indices. The clothing sector was also hit especially hard, with a particularly heavy bill for China, where products will be hit by an additional duty of 34 percent from April 9, and Vietnam, where the new “reciprocal” rate will be 46 percent. Brands whose clothes are partly made in China or Vietnam were sharply lower, with Gap down 8.5 percent after hours, Ralph Lauren falling 7.3 percent, and Nike losing 7.1 percent.
Investors flocked to gold, which has been setting new records in the face of trade uncertainties. The yellow metal blew past its previous day’s record high after Donald Trump’s new announcements and was trading at roughly $3,160 an ounce at around 2345 GMT. The price of gold has jumped by close to 20 percent since the start of 2025. The bond market also played its role as a safe haven, with the yield on the benchmark ten-year US Treasury easing to 4.10 percent after Donald Trump’s announcement. Bond yields move in the opposite direction to prices, with yields typically falling in the face of increased demand for bonds.
Within minutes of Trump’s first words on Wednesday, the dollar plunged by over one percent against the euro. “The increased tariffs have been a negative factor for the US dollar,” Forex.com’s Matthew Weller told AFP. One euro was equivalent to 1.04 dollars on the day Trump was inaugurated to his second term. By 2345 GMT on Wednesday, it was worth around 1.09 dollars. Bitcoin, the most popular cryptocurrency, also suffered from the White House announcements, falling more than three percent on Wednesday evening.
© 2024 AFP
