Long day ahead. The world will have to wait until 4pm Washington time to find out what the future trade structure with America will look like. The word on the grapevine is that president Trump is set to announce a blanket 20% tariff on most incoming goods. Nothing but rumours so far however – the actual arrangement is still anyone’s guess. It goes without saying that traders may expect heavy volatility leading up to the announcement.
Stock exchanges across the world opened the week with major gaps to the downside and are now attempting to reclaim the lost ground. Markets across Asia have certainly had a nervous start to the week so far, with the Nikkei 225 tumbling 4% on Monday and many countries in the region following suit. Nations such as Japan are big exporters to the US and the incoming tariff regime will have no small impact on their economies. European stock exchanges were also looking dicey on Monday which is hardly surprising given the huge trade volumes on the line. Interestingly, US stocks have had a much more promising start to the week, although the Nasdaq Composite remains firmly in correction territory.
As usual, gold is thriving amid the chaos, setting yet another record high on Tuesday as spot prices hit $3,149 an ounce before retreating to a minor daily loss. The precious metal climbed a staggering 19% in Q1 of this year, its biggest quarterly gain in decades. Whether or not the safe-haven flows continue will largely depend on the announcements programmed later in the day.
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