Capital Economy, Business and Finance
Global markets have not had a worse month since 2022.
In the first 50 trading days of Trump 2.0 the S&P 500 is down 8 per cent versus a gain of 4 per cent at this point during his first term.
Ahead of the president’s “liberation day” on Wednesday, when investors hope the exact shape and extent of US tariffs will become clearer, many are voting with their feet.
“Cover first, and assess the danger later,” says Tom Stevenson, director at Fidelity International.
In a search for havens, gold prices hit a record high on Monday and the price of US Treasury bonds jumped.
The FTSE 100 and Europe’s Stoxx 600 were down 0.9 and 1.5 per cent respectively.
In his letter to shareholders yesterday, Larry Fink, the CEO of BlackRock, wrote that “protectionism has returned with force” and warned that the dollar’s dominance as the world’s reserve currency was under threat from digital assets such as Bitcoin.
Trump wasn’t mentioned.
