LONDON: Stock markets slipped on Monday (Mar 10) as investors fretted over the impact of President Donald Trump’s trade policy on the economic growth of the United States and China, the world’s biggest economies.
Wall Street’s three main indexes opened in the red, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq falling 2 per cent, after Trump himself declined to rule out the risk of a US recession.
“I hate to predict things like that,” he told a Fox News interviewer on Sunday when asked directly about a possible recession in 2025.
“There is a period of transition because what we’re doing is very big – we’re bringing wealth back to America,” he said, adding: “It takes a little time.”
Trump’s on-again, off-again tariff threats against Canada, Mexico, China and others have left the US financial markets in turmoil and consumers unsure what the year might bring.
“Unease about the effect of Trump’s tariffs hangs over financial markets at the start of the week,” said Susannah Streeter, head of money and markets at Hargreaves Lansdown.
“The prospect of a recession in the US is lurking, with consumer confidence falling, companies facing increasing trade complexity and investors turning more nervous,” she added.
The London, Paris and Frankfurt stock markets were all lower in afternoon deals, with German shares also hit by concerns that the country’s next chancellor may struggle to push through a massive spending plan.
“Risk sentiment has soured as investors react to President Trump’s various tariff announcements and as the US economic outlook begins to cloud over,” said David Morrison, senior market analyst at financial services firm Trade Nation.
“The president appears to be taking a scatter-gun approach in terms of targets, while teasing the markets with last minute reprieves, delays or softening in scope. All in all, it’s proving difficult to price all this in,” Morrison said.
