Wall Street's optimism vanished late Wednesday as President Trump’s sweeping new tariffs triggered a sharp selloff in U.S. equity futures and a flight to safe-haven assets, casting a shadow over global trade outlook and corporate margins. Key Market Moves Instrument Move S&P 500 Futures -3.5% Nasdaq 100 Futures -4.5% Treasury Futures Surged (Yields fell sharply) Japanese Yen Gained as safe haven AUD & NZD Bonds Rallied Tariff Summary A 10% baseline tariff on all U.S. imports. Additional tariffs on ~60 countries, with higher duties targeting China, EU, and Vietnam . Steel and aluminum imports spared from the new round but remain under existing 25% duties. “Eye-watering tariffs scream ‘negotiation tactic,’ which will keep markets on edge for the foreseeable future.” — Adam Hetts, Janus Henderson Investors Sector Impact Major declines hit consumer, tech, and industrial names: Company Sector Move Nike, Gap, Lululemon Retail (Vietnam-based) -...
KUALA LUMPUR (May 18): The FBM KLCI ended the day 0.06 points higher as investors continued to remain cautious on the changes that took place over the week.
Foreign selling was also observed to have tapered off.
At 5pm, the KLCI closed at 1,854.50 points with more losers than gainers. Volume stood at 2.92 billion shares worth RM3.16 billion.
The KLCI closed lower after rising to its intraday high of 1,862.19 points. The most active counters included My E.G. Services Bhd and Sapura Energy Bhd.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd Head of Research Kenny Yee, told theedgemarkets.com, “There are more losers than gainers, investors are still jittery. People are waiting for announcements, especially relating to construction projects and therefore we may see uncertainty on those stocks for a while.”
Highway concessionaire stocks such as Lingkaran Trans Kota Holdings Bhd (Litrak) fell 26% after Tan Sri Dr Zeti Akhtar Aziz, a member of the Council of Eminent Persons, said the government is likely to make an announcement on toll charges as early as next week.
One of the Pakatan Harapan government’s election promises was the removal of toll charges.
Reuters also reported that market players also remain nervous about US-China trade tensions after US President Donald Trump said the world’s second largest economy had “become very spoiled on trade”.
Source: The Edge
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