Gold, of course, a safe harbour for investors in rocky times, has been trading at record highs and Wednesday was no exception.
Companies are already feeling effects from Trump’s trade war, even before Wednesday’s tariff announcement, and markets have swung wildly for weeks.
“Amid the uncertainty on tariffs details, risk sentiments were broadly fragile,” Tan Jing Yi at Mizuho Bank said in a commentary.
Even if Trump announces less-punishing tariffs than feared, the herky-jerky rollout of his trade strategy may by itself create enough anxiety to spur US households and businesses to freeze their spending, which would damage the economy.
Elsewhere, in Europe at midday France’s CAC 40 declined 0.7 per cent, while Germany’s DAX slid nearly 1.3 per cent and Britain’s FTSE 100 fell 0.6 per cent.
In Asian trading, Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 gained 0.3 per cent to finish at 35,725.87.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was virtually unchanged at 23,202.53, while the Shanghai Composite inched up less than 0.1 per cent to 3,350.13.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 added 0.1 per cent to 7,934.50. South Korea’s Kospi dipped 0.6 per cent to 2,505.86.
