The FTSE 100 (^FTSE) and European stocks extended the previous day’s losses as markets opened on Friday, ending a week of bloodletting following president Donald Trump’s announcement of a global shakeup in how the US organises trade.
On Thursday, the UK government published a list of products it could plan to slap retaliatory tariffs on, in a sign it’s potentially prepared to take a tougher stance than it has. The latest US tariffs came out at 10% for UK imports to the US, a better result than the likes of the EU, which is negotiating a 20% increase.
- The pound is struggling against the dollar this morning, dipping 0.7% to the $1.30 mark following a rally earlier in the week.
- Currency pairings are fragile against the dollar today following the tariff impositions.
- The dollar index (DX-Y.NYB), which tracks the greenback against a basket of currencies was also 0.4% higher.
- Investors are increasing their bets on interest rate cuts by major central banks in an effort to stave off a potential global recession.
- On Thursday, investors piled on more expectations for a rate cut by the BoE, driven by concerns over the damage to trade and economic growth caused by Trump’s tariff decision
- Futures markets suggest a reduction of approximately 60 basis points (bps) to the BoE’s benchmark Bank Rate by December.
- This marks an increase from the 54 bps expected just a day earlier, effectively pricing in two quarter-point rate cuts. The likelihood of a rate cut in early May has also risen, now standing at 77%.
- At present, UK interest rates sit at 4.5%. However, the central bank has been cautious about further cuts, citing growing global trade uncertainty as one of the reasons it refrained from reducing rates last month.
- Losses on the stock market have led to billionaires taking a total $208bn financial hit, according to Bloomberg, with Tesla (TSLA) founder Elon Musk’s book $11bn lower, Meta’s (META) Mark Zuckerberg down $17.9bn and Amazon (AMZN) CEO Jeff Bezos down $15.9bn.
- The figures come from Bloomberg’s Billionaire index.
- The government published a long list of products the UK exports to the US that could be considered for higher levies, including:
- Livestock such as horses and cows
- Various meats
- Drinks, including whiskey
- Furniture
- Toys
- Boats and boat parts
- Cars and car parts
- Bicycles
- Minerals and oils
- US stock futures dipped after President Trump’s announcement of broad reciprocal tariffs sent markets into a tailspin.
- Futures attached to the Dow Jones Industrial Average (YM=F), the benchmark S&P 500 (ES=F), and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (NQ=F) fell 0.2%.
- Here’s what was announced by the way of higher duties:
- 12:43
- Hello from London. There’s been chaos in the markets overnight as traders grapple with the potential economic impacts of tariffs.
- Otherwise there’s not much on the slate today in the way pf economic releases other than UK construction PMI releases and US jobs data.
- Let’s get to it.
