A look at the day ahead in European and global markets from Rae Wee
There have been growing signs that investors are becoming more indifferent to Donald Trump’s tariff salvos, and nowhere has this been more evident than in the price action across stocks over the past few days.
Asia shares on Thursday rode the high from Nvidia’s brief rise to a $4 trillion valuation and futures pointed to similar gains in Europe later in the day, even as Trump dealt his latest blow to the global trade landscape.
The U.S. President launched his tariff assault into overdrive on Wednesday as he announced a new 50% tariff on U.S. copper imports and a 50% duty on goods from Brazil, both to start on August 1.
Copper prices in London and China did come under pressure and the Brazilian real slid, but the hit on markets elsewhere was fairly muted.
Bitcoin remained perched near a record high and the dollar fell as investors chose to take on more risk, looking past the slew of headlines from Trump.
“Desensitised” and “numb” are some of the buzzwords money managers and analysts have used in recent times, though it remains to be seen how long this could hold on for.
A host of countries have yet to receive their letters from Trump, and investors are also awaiting the progress of a deal between the U.S. and the European Union.
Trump said he would “probably” tell the EU soon what rate it could expect for its exports to the U.S., adding that the 27-nation bloc had become much more cooperative.
EU trade chief Maros Sefcovic said good progress had been made on a framework trade agreement and a deal may even be possible within days.
While Trump’s latest tariff delay provided hope to major trade partners Japan, South Korea and the European Union that deals to ease duties could still be reached, it has also bewildered some smaller exporters such as South Africa and left companies with no clarity on the path forward.
For now, though, investors seem to be taking the news in their stride and see little reason to panic as they put their faith in the notion of “TACO”, the acronym for Trump Always Chickens Out.
Key developments that could influence markets on Thursday:
– U.S. weekly jobless claims
– Federal Reserve’s Alberto Musalem, Mary Daly speak
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(Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)
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