Feb 02, 2025
Morning Bid: Trump tariff reality unnerves markets
Whatever investors expected from Donald Trump's tariff threats, or from the target countries' responses, they may have ended up with more than they bargained for. Equity indexes met with aggressive selling in Asia and looked headed for steep drops globally, based on futures prices for the U.S. S&P 500 and pan-European STOXX 50. Some investors had expected that Trump would water down his threat of 25% levies on neighbours Canada and Mexico, and possibly put off additional duties on China - or that, if the tariffs went ahead as stated, they would be quietly accepted.