New York (AFP) – Stock markets rose, gold hit another record high, and the dollar remained under pressure as investors grappled with the latest twists and turns in US President Donald Trump’s trade war. Technology shares mostly rose in reaction to a late Friday announcement by the Trump administration of tariff exemptions for smartphones, laptops, semiconductors, and other electronics—all key Chinese-made products. However, they later pared their gains as investors digested the other weekend news—Trump suggesting that the exemptions would be temporary. The broad-based S&P 500 briefly dipped into negative territory at midday but finished up 0.8 percent.
“Washington’s partial retreat from its hard-line tariff regime—specifically the temporary exemption of a raft of tech goods from punitive import levies—has momentarily eased fears of an all-out trade war,” said Fawad Razaqzada, analyst at City Index and Forex.com. Trump said Sunday that the exemptions had been misconstrued and that no country would get “off the hook” in his trade war—especially China. As his team pursued fresh tariffs against many items on the list, including semiconductors “over the next week,” Trump indicated that electronics were only moved to a different tariff “bucket.”
“The comment has only added to confusion and reinforced the idea that the exemptions are not permanent, keeping uncertainty elevated as the new week begins,” said David Morrison, analyst at financial services platform Trade Nation. “The US dollar remained under pressure, with ongoing trade tensions denting its appeal,” Morrison stated. However, the US currency traded within a tighter range compared with the recent days when it has seen some big drops against the euro.
US Treasuries also recovered somewhat, but yields remained fairly high following a sell-off last week that pointed to questions about the continued reliability of US government bonds as a haven investment. Gold, a go-to asset of safety in times of turmoil, hit a new peak of $3,245.75 an ounce Monday before paring back gains. “Unless a broader (US-China) trade accord is struck soon, the stalemate could continue to hold back risk appetite,” Razaqzada remarked. “While this softening of tone (on tariffs) may appear constructive on the surface, it doesn’t meaningfully shift the dial unless accompanied by substantive progress in US-China trade relations,” he added.
– Key figures around 2050 GMT –
New York – Dow: UP 0.8 percent at 40,524.79 (close)
New York – S&P 500: UP 0.8 percent at 5,405.97 (close)
New York – Nasdaq: UP 0.6 percent at 16,831.48 (close)
London – FTSE 100: UP 2.1 percent at 8,134.34
Paris – CAC 40: UP 2.4 percent at 7,273.12
Frankfurt – DAX: UP 2.9 percent at 20,954.83
Tokyo – Nikkei 225: UP 1.2 percent at 33,982.36 (close)
Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: UP 2.4 percent at 21,417.40 (close)
Shanghai – Composite: UP 0.8 percent at 3,262.81 (close)
Euro/dollar: UP at $1.1356 from $1.1355 on Friday
Dollar/yen: DOWN at 143.09 yen from 143.54 yen
Pound/dollar: UP at $1.3189 from $1.3087
Euro/pound: DOWN at 86.08 pence from 86.83 pence
Brent North Sea Crude: UP 0.2 percent at $64.88 per barrel
West Texas Intermediate: UP 0.1 percent at $61.53 per barrel
© 2024 AFP
