Traders brush off new Trump threats to extend stocks rally
The US president has ramped up his trade war in the past week by firing off more than 20 letters to governments outlining new tolls if agreements aren't reached by Aug 1.
He has also said he would impose 50 per cent tariffs on copper imports, while threatening 200 per cent on pharmaceuticals, and hit Brazil with a new 50 per cent charge.
Thursday saw him dial up the rhetoric by warning Canada faced a 35 per cent tax, while most other countries would be handed blanket tariffs of up to 20 per cent, from the current 10 per cent.
The moves are the latest by the White House in a campaign it says is aimed at ending decades of the United States being "ripped off".
"We're just going to say all of the remaining countries are going to pay, whether it's 20 per cent or 15 per cent. We'll work that out now," Trump told NBC News.
"I think the tariffs have been very well-received. The stock market hit a new high today," Trump added.
However, while his initial bombshell announcement of tariffs on April 2 sent markets into turmoil, until he paused them for three months, the latest measures have had less impact.
Analysts say traders now expect a deal or another delay, while investors appear to be waiting until a deal is done or the tariffs kick in.
All three main indexes on Wall Street rose Thursday, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq hitting fresh peaks, hours after the FTSE in London had done so.
And Asia largely followed the gains, with Hong Kong up more than one per cent, with Shanghai, Singapore, Seoul, Taipei, Manila and Jakarta also in positive territory.
There were small losses in Tokyo, Sydney and Wellington.
Still, observers remain cautious.
"Just as the market was catching its breath at new highs... President Trump tugged the rug again," said Stephen Innes as SPI Asset Management.
"His tariff doctrine is now fully weaponised -- not merely to correct imbalances, but to assert dominion.
"Every letter sent to a trade partner is a chess move disguised as a slap," Innes said.
Khoon Goh, from Australia and New Zealand Banking Group, expected "more risk aversion across Asia".
Investors will "pare back their positions ahead of the weekend, to avoid any whiplash that could occur next week on further tariff news over the next couple of days", he said. - AFP
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