Asian stock markets plunge, gold reaches record high
Gold has reached a record high while the yen has strengthened against the dollar and stock markets have slumped after Donald’s Trump’s unexpectedly aggressive tariff announcement. Here’s the latest on the markets courtesy of Reuters:
The high-flying tech sector was pummelled as manufacturing hubs in China and Taiwan faced new tariffs above 30%, bringing the total new levy to an eye-watering 54% on imports from China.
“The US effective tariff rate on all imports look to be the highest level in over a century,” said Citi’s global rates trading strategist, Ben Wiltshire.
Nasdaq futures tumbled 4% and in after-hours trade some $760 billion was wiped from the market value of Magnificent Seven technology leaders. Apple shares, hit hardest as the company makes iPhones in China, were down nearly 7%.
S&P 500 futures fell 3.3%, FTSE futures fell 1.8%, while European futures fell nearly 2%.
Gold hit a record high above $3,160 an ounce, and oil, a proxy for global growth, slumped more than 3% to put benchmark Brent futures at $72.56 a barrel.
In early trade in Tokyo, the Nikkei was down 3.9% at an eight-month low, with nearly every index member falling as shippers, banks, insurers and exporters copped a beating.
Benchmark 10-year Treasury yields shot down 14 basis points to a five-month low of 4.04% as investors braced for slower US growth, while interest rate futures priced in a higher chance of interest rate cuts in the months ahead.
South Korea’s Kospi fell 2%. Van Eck’s Vietnam ETF fell more than 8% in after-hours trade. Australian shares fell 2%.
Markets in Taiwan were closed for a holiday.
China’s yuan touched a two-month low in offshore trade, ahead of the onshore open.
Ten-year Japanese government bond futures made their sharpest jump in eight months.
