Stock markets rise on fresh hopes for Trump’s tariff approach
A person walks near the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) on Wall Street in New York City. Global stocks rose Monday on hopes US President Donald Trump was looking at a more targeted approach to tariffs. (Photo by ANGELA WEISS / AFP)
London, United Kingdom – Stock markets mostly rose on Monday as worries about fresh US tariffs penciled in for next week were tempered by hopes that US President Donald Trump was considering a more targeted approach.
Investor sentiment has been jolted in recent weeks by fears that the president’s hardball policies could deal a painful blow to the global economy.
Wednesday of next week is now the focus of attention, with Trump labelling it “Liberation Day” as he prepares to unveil a raft of supposedly “reciprocal” measures to counter those in other countries.
READ: Asian markets fluctuate as traders prepare for ‘Liberation Day’
“Expectations are growing that they (tariffs) could be tweaked and be more focused on specific goods and sectors, instead of swathes of duties triggered in a blanket fashion,” said Susannah Streeter, head of money and markets at Hargreaves Lansdown.
Bloomberg News reported that the US administration was considering a more targeted approach to the tariffs, with some countries being hit harder than others, and the measures not being as severe as initially feared.
That came after the president on Friday told reporters that “there’ll be flexibility” in his plans.
Those expectations have helped lift market sentiment, with London, Paris and Frankfurt all rising on Monday.
Markets also digested purchasing managers’ index (PMI) data that showed business activity in the eurozone increased for the third consecutive month in March.
The closely watched survey also showed that UK business activity hit a six-month high, a glimmer of good news for Britain’s struggling economy.
However, positive sentiment has been tempered as the US Federal Reserve last week warned that “uncertainty around the economic outlook has increased” while the central banks of Japan and Britain also warned about the impact of the White House’s policies.
READ: US Fed flags rising economic uncertainty, pauses rate cuts again
Chinese Premier Li Qiang said at the weekend that Beijing was readying for “shocks that exceed expectations” ahead of the latest tariff measures, adding that “instability and uncertainty are on the upswing”.
His comments came as he met heads of some of the world’s biggest companies, including Apple, Qualcomm, FedEx and Pfizer.
Asian markets fluctuated through the day, with Tokyo falling while Hong Kong and Shanghai rose.
Jakarta dived more than four percent at one point, extending a recent sell-off fuelled by worries about Southeast Asia’s biggest economy that has seen the country’s main index lose around 15 percent since the turn of the year.
Gold held at around $3,035 an ounce (28.3 grams), having hit a series of records last week to a peak of more than $3,057 owing to a surge in demand for safe havens.
