Second day of gains for world markets as they become ‘blasé’ about trade war fears
London — Global equities rallied for a second straight day on Wednesday while safe-haven assets such as US bonds and the Japanese yen slipped to multi-week lows as investors bet the escalating US-China trade war would inflict less damage than feared. The deepening tariff row between the US and China threatens to disrupt supply chains and undermine the world economy, with Beijing adding $60bn of US products to its import tariff list in retaliation for US President Donald Trump’s planned levies on $200bn of Chinese goods But markets appear to have taken cheer from China’s move to levy only a 10% duty on $60bn worth of US imports. The US removed about 300 Chinese-made items from the list of dutiable goods. World growth is undoubtedly at risk — a survey by ThomsonReuters and Insead showed confidence among Asian companies at the weakest in almost three years as businesses feared blowback from the trade war. And Germany’s IW economic institute lowered its growth forecast for the biggest e...
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.
Subscribe now to unlock this article.
Support BusinessLIVE’s award-winning journalism for R129 per month (digital access only).
There’s never been a more important time to support independent journalism in SA. Our subscription packages now offer an ad-free experience for readers.
Cancel anytime.
Questions? Email helpdesk@businesslive.co.za or call 0860 52 52 00. Got a subscription voucher? Redeem it now.