Tariff Tangle Daunts Global Bourses

Washington: Shares slid further in Europe and Asia and US futures also fell on Friday as investors counted the potential costs of US President Donald Trump’s latest set of tariffs. Wall Street shuddered with a level of shock unseen since the Covid-19 impact tore on Trump’s latest set of tariffs’ damage on the world’s economy. The Wall Street Journal reported the US market had erased $2.7 trillion in market cap by noon. The S&P 500 sank 4.8 per cent to 5,396.52 Thursday, more than in major markets across Asia and Europe, for its worst day since the pandemic crashed the economy in 2020. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 4 per cent to 40,545.93, and the Nasdaq composite tumbled 6 per cent to 16,550.61. Trump announced a minimum tariff of 10 per cent on global imports, with the tax rate running much higher on products from certain countries like China and those from the European Union. Smaller, poorer countries in Asia were slapped with tariffs as high as 49 per cent. Everything from crude oil to Big Tech stocks to the value of the US dollar against other currencies has fallen. Even gold, a traditional safe haven that recently hit record highs, pulled lower after Trump announced his ‘Liberation Day’ set of tariffs, which economists say carries the risk of a potentially toxic mix of weakening economic growth and higher inflation.

US benchmark crude oil shed $2.70 to $64.25 a barrel after major oil producers announced they plan to increase production. Brent crude, the international standard, was down $2.63 at $67.51 a barrel. In other trading early Friday, the US dollar rose to 146.46 Japanese yen from 146.06. The yen is often used as a refuge in uncertain times, while Trump’s policies are meant in part to weaken the dollar to make goods made in the US more price competitive overseas.

The euro edged lower, to $1.0976 from $1.1055. Here’s the latest: Asian and European shares slide further, US dollar takes a hit In European trading, Germany’s DAX lost 2 per cent to 21,289.53 after the country reported factory orders were unchanged in February as manufacturers prepared for steeper duties on their exports.