There’s been no time for investors to turn their attention to this Friday’s US non-farm jobs report, with news that Trump is considering another $100 billion in China-targeted tariffs (sort of) reigniting the trade war fears that had begun to abate on Thursday.
Though not quite as pronounced as the losses seen in the first half of the week, the European open was nevertheless impacted by the prospect of further tariff-escalation. The FTSE pulled back from 7200 following a 0.2% decline, while the situation was slightly more severe in the eurozone, with the CAC and DAX dropping 0.5% and 0.7% respectively.
Now this is nothing compared to the muscular, Larry Kudlow-prompted growth seen on Thursday. And despite the chaotic trading – that was in part exacerbated by Easter Monday throwing the European calendar out of whack – the major indices are still all actually up on the week; a remarkable feat, but one that does reflect investors’ acute sensitivity at the moment.
As for the forex markets, the pound and euro continued to backtrack against the greenback, which appears to be ignoring the day’s tariff talk. Cable, which was teasing $1.425 towards the end of March, is trading below $1.40 for the first time in nearly 3 weeks, while against the euro the dollar has hit levels not seen in more than a month.
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