Stocks Waver as Trump’s Tariffs Fuel Uncertainty: Markets Wrap

(Bloomberg) — Stocks struggled for direction and 10-year Treasury yields slipped to the lowest in more than two months amid concerns that US President Donald Trump’s policies will hurt global economic growth.

Europe’s Stoxx 600 benchmark was little changed. US equity futures pointed to a lower open after a tech-led selloff on Wall Street at the end of trading Monday. Treasuries rallied, with the yield on the 10-year benchmark down six basis points. Asian stocks fell for a second day as Trump spelled out more measures to curb China’s chipmaking industry. 

The spread between German 10-year bond yields and similar-maturity interest-rate swaps reached its most negative level on record, reflecting expectations for higher borrowing to fund big outlays on defense spending.

Uncertainty on how the new US administration’s policies will affect global growth and long-established economic and political alliances has prompted investors to pare risk and switch to havens like Treasuries or gold. Bitcoin tumbled below $90,000 to hit the lowest since mid-November as investors stepped back from one of the most popular Trump trades.

“A more accelerated US retreat from global leadership raises risks for multinational corporations and global investors that have long benefited from a stable, rules-based international order,” said Rajeev De Mello, a global macro portfolio manager at Gama Asset Management. 

Trump signaled Monday that tariffs on Mexican and Canadian imports will go ahead, while his administration is sketching out tougher versions of US semiconductor curbs and pressuring key allies to escalate their restrictions on China’s chip industry.

 

The Hang Seng Tech Index had slumped as much as 4.4%, pacing losses for Chinese equities in New York. The gauge later erased most of its decline as more than $1 billion worth of money poured into Hong Kong stocks from China.

Trump officials recently met with their Japanese and Dutch counterparts about restricting Tokyo Electron Ltd. and ASML Holding NV engineers from maintaining semiconductor gear in China, according to people familiar with the matter. 

This comes after a directive set the stage for a more muscular use of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, or CFIUS, a secretive panel that scrutinizes proposals by foreign entities to buy US companies or property, to thwart Chinese investment.

The US president also deepened Washington’s split with its allies over Ukraine, withdrawing US condemnation of Russia’s 2022 invasion at the United Nations and among Group-of-Seven countries as he aims to end the war on terms agreeable to Moscow. 

Among individual stock moves in Europe, Fresenius Medical Care AG shares rose after positive guidance. Unilever Plc declined after Hein Schumacher unexpectedly stepped down as chief executive. Heidelberg Materials AG dropped after reporting results.

In Japan, trading houses, including Mitsubishi Corp. and Marubeni Corp., rallied on Tuesday after Berkshire Hathaway Inc. said it was looking to increase ownership in the companies in an annual letter to shareholders dated Saturday. 

In other markets, oil edged higher as investors assessed a fresh wave of US sanctions on Iran. Gold slipped from a record high. Bitcoin fell for a third day, while Ether and many of the higher profile altcoins such as Solana and Dogecoin also remained under pressure as investors turn elsewhere with the sector still reeling after its biggest-ever hack last week. 

Key events this week:

• US consumer confidence, Tuesday
• Fed’s Lorie Logan, Tom Barkin, Michael Barr speak, Tuesday
• Apple shareholder meeting, Tuesday
• US new home sales, Wednesday
• Nvidia earnings, Wednesday
• Fed’s Raphael Bostic speaks, Wednesday
• Eurozone consumer confidence, Thursday
• US GDP, durable goods, initial jobless claims, Thursday
• Fed’s Jeff Schmid, Beth Hammack, Patrick Harker, Michael Barr, Michelle Bowman speak, Thursday
• Japan Tokyo CPI, industrial production, retail sales, Friday
• US PCE inflation, income and spending, Friday
• Fed’s Austan Goolsbee speaks, Friday

Some of the main moves in markets:

Stocks

• The Stoxx Europe 600 was little changed as of 8:53 a.m. London time
• S&P 500 futures were little changed
• Nasdaq 100 futures fell 0.4%
• Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were little changed
• The MSCI Asia Pacific Index fell 1.1%
• The MSCI Emerging Markets Index fell 1.2%

Currencies

• The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changed
• The euro was little changed at $1.0471
• The Japanese yen rose 0.1% to 149.50 per dollar
• The offshore yuan fell 0.2% to 7.2668 per dollar
• The British pound was little changed at $1.2626

Cryptocurrencies

• Bitcoin fell 4.7% to $89,529.82
• Ether fell 8.9% to $2,402.7

Bonds

• The yield on 10-year Treasuries declined six basis points to 4.34%
• Germany’s 10-year yield was little changed at 2.47%
• Britain’s 10-year yield declined two basis points to 4.54%

Commodities

• Brent crude rose 0.2% to $74.93 a barrel
• Spot gold fell 0.4% to $2,940.94 an ounce

This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.

–With assistance from Jason Scott, Charlotte Yang and Joanne Wong.

©2025 Bloomberg L.P.