Global stocks mostly lower as tariff fears rattle markets

Global stock markets largely slipped on Monday after another turbulent day of trading, with the S&P 500 briefly falling into correction territory before reversing course ahead of a wave of US tariffs this week that have fanned recession fears.

On Wall Street, US stocks shook off some early gloom about President Donald Trump‘s imminent tariff announcement on Wednesday — which he has dubbed “Liberation Day” — to close mixed.

But despite the S&P’s revival later in the day, it wasn’t enough to save the index from posting its worst quarter since 2022, along with the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite.

“I think [traders] were taking advantage of an oversold situation,” CFRA’s Sam Stovall told AFP.

“They still have another day in which to sort of play around,” before Trump’s big tariff announcement, he added.

Asian markets plunged, while European markets also finished lower amid the trade uncertainty.

Tariff fears elevated

“There is an air of capitulation in financial markets ahead of the April 2 reciprocal tariff announcement from the US,” said Kathleen Brooks, research director at XTB.

As it has become clear that Trump intends to go through with imposing massive tariffs on major US trading partners, concerns have grown about their inflationary impact and the possibility they may trigger a recession.

Adding to investors’ fears, Trump said Sunday that tariffs would apply to “all countries”, not just those with the largest trade imbalances with the United States.

His administration has still not released a detailed plan about who or what will be impacted.

Underscoring the uncertainty, the CBOE Volatility Index, colloquially known as Wall Street’s “fear gauge,” spiked on Monday, before cooling down somewhat as the day progressed.

Car levy concerns

Automakers were hit particularly hard in the wake of Trump’s announcement that he would also impose 25 percent duties on imports of all vehicles and parts.

In Europe, Porsche and Volkswagen both fell more than three percent. Toyota, the world’s biggest carmaker, plunged over three percent, along with Nissan and Mazda.

“Within the Asia-Pacific region, the car levies will hit Japan and South Korea the hardest,” Moody’s Analytics economists wrote in a note to clients.

“Such a sizeable tariff hike will undermine confidence, hit production and reduce orders,” they said.

“Given the long and complex supply chains in car manufacturing, the impact will ripple through these countries’ economies,” they added.

Gold, seen as a safe haven asset in times of uncertainty, hit a new record high over $3,100 an ounce.

Yields fell on government bonds, including those of the United States, “reflecting ongoing safe-haven trading due to concerns about US trade policy,” said Briefing.com analyst Patrick O’Hare.

Among individual companies, cloud computing company Coreweave fell 7.3 percent days after going public, closing sharply below its initial public offering price.

And in Asia, CK Hutchison shed 3.1 percent in Hong Kong as a Chinese review of a multi-billion-dollar deal to offload ports operations, including those in the Panama Canal, appeared likely to lead to a delay of its Wednesday signature.

Key figures around 2100 GMT

New York – Dow: UP 1.0 percent at 42,001.76 (close)
New York – S&P 500: UP 0.6 percent at 5,611.85 (close)
New York – Nasdaq Composite: DOWN 0.1 percent at 17,299.29 (close)
London – FTSE 100: DOWN 0.9 percent at 8,582.81 (close)
Paris – CAC 40: DOWN 1.6 percent at 7,790.71 (close)
Frankfurt – DAX: DOWN 1.3 percent at 22,163.49 (close)
Tokyo – Nikkei 225: DOWN 4.1 percent at 35,617.56 points (close)
Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: DOWN 1.3 percent at 23,119.58 (close)
Shanghai – Composite: DOWN 0.5 percent at 3,335.75 (close)
Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.0817 from $1.0838 on Friday
Pound/dollar: DOWN at $1.2916 from $1.2947
Dollar/yen: UP at 149.94 yen from 149.72 yen
Euro/pound: UP at 83.69 pence from 83.68 pence
West Texas Intermediate: UP 3.1 percent at $71.48 per barrel
Brent North Sea Crude: UP 1.5 percent at $74.74 per barrel

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Press Release/Material by AFP
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