Global stocks extended their losses on Friday after China retaliated against Donald Trump’s tariff blitz, as investors took fright at the prospect of a full-blown global trade war.
The S&P 500 index fell 2.4 per cent at the New York open, a day after suffering its biggest one-day drop since 2020. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite fell 3 per cent.
The Stoxx Europe 600 index was down 3.5 per cent, with losses accelerating after Beijing’s announcement, pulling the Europe-wide benchmark into correction territory. Germany’s Dax was down 3.3 per cent. The FTSE 100 was down 3.2 per cent.
Oil prices continued to fall, with Brent crude down 6.7 per cent at $65.46 a barrel.
“The market is doing one thing: pricing in a global recession,” said Deutsche Bank analyst George Saravelos.
Government bond yields tumbled as investors sought haven assets, with the 10-year US Treasury falling 0.13 percentage points to 3.92 per cent.
Federal Reserve chair Jay Powell will deliver a speech in the US morning. Futures markets are pricing in four quarter-point interest rate cuts from the Fed by the end of this year, up from the three that were expected before Wednesday’s tariffs announcement.
The dollar was down 0.1 per cent against a basket of peers.
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