Traders barely flinch at trade war moves, as global markets ignore Trump’s tariff tirade
Some suggest that the $200bn US move has been largely priced in to markets following weeks of reports and social media speculation
London — Who’s afraid of the big bad trade war? Not world stock markets it seems. The response to US President Donald Trump’s decision to go ahead next week with collecting 10% tariffs on another $200bn worth of Chinese goods, ratcheting up to 25% in January, was unusual and unexpected on Tuesday. It initially hit US stocks, treasuries and the dollar while stirring a rally in Chinese equities and the yuan in Asia. China then confirmed it would retaliate, but still traders barely flinched. European stocks gained more than a third of a percent, on course for a third day of gains, Wall Street futures climbed and even copper and the Australian dollar, which have been highly sensitive to the trade tension in recent months, held firm. "In a way it is remarkable that the market is holding up so well," said Rabobank’s head of macro strategy Elwin de Groot. "This is clearly a further ratcheting up of the trade war and we are now getting close to a situation where you can almost speak of a fu...
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