Photograph: Shawn Thew/EPA
Closing summary: Trump's tit-for-tat tariffs take transatlantic toll
Donald Trump’s tariffs have roiled global markets in the last couple of weeks, and the downward momentum continued on Thursday after the US president woke up angry about EU retaliation.
The S&P 500 and the Dow Jones industrial average indices were down by 0.4% in early trading, while the tech-focused Nasdaq was down by 0.8%. Shares in the UK, France, Germany and Italy were also down.
That was despite comments from US Treasury secretary Scott Bessent, who sought to mollify investors – but also to signal that the White House will try to ignore market turmoil. On Thursday he told CNBC:
We’re focused on the real economy. Can we create an environment where there are long-term gains in the market and long term gains for the American people? I’m not concerned about a little bit of volatility over three weeks.
One person who will be watching the Trump tariff turmoil closely is Jerome Powell, the president of the Federal Reserve, the US central bank. He could be caught between trying to support the economy with looser monetary policy if tariffs hit output, and trying to tighten policy to prevent inflation from getting out of control.
Daniel Murray, deputy chief investment officer at EFG, a global private banking group headquartered in Zurich, Switzerland, said:
Imposing tariffs on steel and aluminium imports risks stoking US inflation as, particularly for aluminium, the US is highly dependent on imports.
In a context where domestic producers would enjoy increased pricing power, also because of possible shortages of these materials, the risk that increased costs are transferred to the final customer is elevated. If that is the case, higher inflation would limit the room for Fed rate cuts even in a context of possibly weaker activity.
In other news from the world of business:
The owner of John Lewis and Waitrose has tripled its annual profits but workers at the staff-owned retail group have missed out on a bonus for a third year in a row.
Fresh incentives to boost the electric car market are urgently needed, according to the UK automotive industry.
Australian farmers are anxiously waiting to hear whether $6.2bn in meat exports will be hit in the next round of Trump tariffs.
Deliveroo has made an annual profit for the first time, after a bumpy few years since a disastrous stock market listing.
And you can continue to follow our live coverage from around the world:
In our US coverage, Trump threatens 200% retaliatory tariffs on European wines and other alcohol
In the UK, Unison attacks ‘shambolic’ announcement of NHS England’s abolition
In our Europe coverage, Russia is ‘seeking to prolong war’, says Zelenskyy as Kremlin aide says proposed ceasefire just ‘temporary respite’ for Ukraine
Thank you for reading today, and please do join us tomorrow for more of the same. JJ
Share price declines on Wall Street have eased somewhat after Treasury secretary Scott Bessent said the US economy might go through “detox” rather than “recession”.
Bessent also said that the White House under Donald Trump wants to protect strategic industries and jobs.
