Ugly as it was, the Dow Jones managed to avoid the truly scary open promised by the futures earlier in the day, something that helped to ease the losses seen in Europe.
Now let’s be clear – a 350 point decline is in no way good. However, compared to the near 600 point plunge suggested around lunchtime, and considering the extent of investors (justified) fears of a US-China trade war, the Dow can count itself sort of lucky.
Ducking a complete US bloodbath meant the FTSE could re-cross 7000 after reducing its daily decline to a comparatively insignificant 20 points. The DAX roughly halved its losses, though is still the wrong side of 12000 with a 100 point slide, while the CAC sneaked back above 5100 after trimming its dip to 0.6%. As for the dollar, it remained down against both the pound and the euro, if only by 0.2% and 0.3% respectively.
Given that this week has seen 2 tariff announcements from China with a retaliatory reveal stuffed in the middle from the US, there is the very real danger that the rest of the week is going to be dictated by this tit-for-tat escalation. The fear of Trump’s next move is going to hang over the markets for at least the next few sessions, continuing this abject start to the second quarter.
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