“Overall it’s good news on the day,” said Rodrigo Catril, a strategist at National Australia Bank in Sydney. “But the constant threats don’t make for a good environment for investment and hiring decisions.”
Futures for Asian stocks, recorded prior to Trump’s deadline extension, fell in line with Wall Street moves on Friday with contracts for Japanese, Australian and Hong Kong stocks all lower. In commodities, oil gained 0.7% while and gold fell 0.3% in early trading Monday.
To Capital Economics, Trump’s threat of a 50% tariff on the EU from June may well turn out to be a “negotiating tactic” and seems “very unlikely” to be where tariffs settle over the long run.
“At this stage, we are not inclined to change our working assumption that tariffs on the EU will ultimately settle around 10%, but this underlines that there are risks and that the road to an agreement could be rocky,” the firm said.
Meanwhile, Japan’s chief trade negotiator Ryosei Akazawa indicated his aim to resolve tariff talks in time for a June meeting between Trump and Japan’s Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba following the president’s surprise pivot to allow a partnership between two of the countries’ steelmakers.
Some of the main moves in markets:
