Global stock markets fell on Thursday after new tariffs announced by Donald Trump left the global economy on the brink of a trade war. At 10:50 on Thursday, the BET index of the Bucharest Stock Exchange was down 0.71%. Developments were mixed: Antibiotice and BRD shares were up, despite the global bearish sentiment.
Futures for the S&P 500 and Nasdaq fell 2.8% and 3.3%, respectively. Japan’s benchmark Topix index fell 3.8%, while European futures fell more. Trump announced his tariff plan late Wednesday, sending global financial markets into a tailspin.
“It’s worse than expected,” said Zhikai Chen, head of global emerging market equities at BNP Paribas Asset Management. Investors, as they always do in times of crisis, flocked to safe-haven assets.
The Japanese yen rose 1.4% to 147.1 yen per dollar, and gold hit a record high of $3,167 per troy ounce. The yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury fell 0.13 percentage point to 4.1%. Japanese 10-year government bond yields also fell by 0.12 percentage points to 1.3%.
Gold Hits New Record High
Gold surpassed its previous record on Wednesday, exceeding $3,150 per ounce following Donald Trump’s announcement, AFP reports via News.ro. Around 11:20 PM GMT, the price of the precious metal was up 0.80%, reaching a new all-time high of over $3,159 per ounce, surpassing Tuesday’s record. Gold continues to be seen as a safe-haven asset amid a global climate of trade tensions and economic uncertainty.
Oil Prices Decline
Oil prices fell after initially gaining $1 in post-settlement trading on Wednesday. Tariffs have fueled concerns that a global trade war could reduce crude oil demand, Reuters reports.
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Brent crude futures settled $0.46 higher (+0.6%) at $74.95 per barrel.
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U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures gained $0.51 (+0.7%), closing at $71.71 per barrel.
U.S. crude futures initially rose by $1 before turning negative, alongside Brent, during Trump’s Wednesday afternoon press conference. A chart displayed during his announcement listed tariffs by country, but did not specify tariffs for Canada and Mexico. However, a senior official told Reuters that USMCA-compliant goods from Mexico and Canada, including oil, will remain exempt from tariffs.
Canada supplies around 4 million barrels per day of crude oil to the U.S. Trump also threatened secondary tariffs on Russian oil and, on Monday, tightened sanctions on Iran as part of his administration’s “maximum pressure” campaign to curb Iranian exports.