Equities and oil prices extended a global rout for markets on Friday after China hit back over American President Donald Trump’s tariff blitz with its own mammoth levy on US goods, inflaming global trade war fears.
Despite the market turmoil, Trump insisted: “my policies will never change”.
Wall Street stocks fell more than two percent at the start of trading, with the blue-chip Dow falling below 40 000 points for the first time since August, a day after the S&P 500 experienced its largest drop since the Covid pandemic in 2020.
“Sentiment is so fragile right now,” said Chris Beauchamp, chief market analyst at online trading platform IG.
“Investors are firmly in the ‘get me to cash now’ phase, on fears that other nations will follow China’s lead, and of course that the US president will respond to China’s tariffs with even more charges.
“This trade war is like nothing we’ve seen for years, perhaps decades,” Beauchamp added.
Recession fears despite steady dollar
Frankfurt’s main DAX index of German blue-chip companies plunged more than five percent moments after the Chinese government said it would slap additional 34% tariffs on all imports of US goods from April 10.
It then pared losses to stand down 3.8% in afternoon deals, with Paris and London also down more than three percent.
The falls came despite data showing the world’s biggest economy added 228 000 jobs last month, much higher than analysts expected.
“There’s no question that the trade war is fueling the current selloff, but the big question is if and when it will start to impact the economy in a meaningful way.” – Bret Kenwell, eToro US investment analyst.
The jobs report “again showed that we have yet to see a significant spike in jobless claims, and if the most recent payrolls report avoids a large revision lower like we saw for February, it bodes well for the US economy,” he added.
The dollar was steadier against main rivals having fallen sharply on Thursday on fears of a recession in the United States.
But oil futures plummeted around seven percent, having already plunged some six to seven percent Thursday on the prospect of weaker demand.
News that OPEC+ had unexpectedly hiked crude supply more than planned added to the steep selling.
The price of traded copper – a vital component for energy storage, electric vehicles, solar panels and wind turbines – tumbled more than five percent.
Export controls imposed
Earlier on Friday, Beijing also imposed exports controls on seven rare earth elements, its commerce ministry said, including gadolinium – commonly used in MRIs – and yttrium, utilised in consumer electronics.
“Another jolt of fear has shot through markets as China’s threat of retaliation has materialised,” said Susannah Streeter, head of money and markets at Hargreaves Lansdown.
“The big concern is that this is a sign of a sharp escalation of the tariff war which will have major implications for the global economy.”
China’s response came after Trump’s harsher-than-expected “Liberation Day” levies sent shockwaves through markets Thursday, with Wall Street suffering its worst day since the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic.
French President Emmanuel Macron has called for suspending investment in the United States until what he called the “brutal” new tariffs had been “clarified”.
Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said the 24% levies his country faced were a “national crisis”.
The Tokyo stock market closed with a loss of 2.8%, as car giants took the heat once more.