Asia shares steady; gold at record high as trade war ratchets up
SINGAPORE - Asia shares rose on Friday and global markets attempted a rebound after a brutal selloff, while gold reached a record as an escalation of global trade tensions left investors nervous and sparked a flight to safe-haven assets.
Relief over the likely aversion of a U.S. government shutdown boosted stocks in early Asian trade, after Senate Democrat Chuck Schumer said he would vote to advance a Republican stopgap funding bill, signalling that his party would provide the necessary support. U.S. stock futures rose sharply in response, with the Nasdaq up 0.87% and S&P 500 futures advancing 0.7%."For today, at least, this news from Congress is positive for market sentiment at this point," said Alvin Tan, head of Asia FX strategy at RBC Capital Markets. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan traded 0.2% higher, though was on track to lose more than 2% for the week, as global trade disputes battered global stocks. In the latest in a long list of tariff threats, U.S. President Donald Trump said on Thursday he would hit imports of European wine and spirits with duties of 200% if the EU did not remove retaliatory surcharges on American whiskey and other products that come into effect next month. "Trump is making it very clear that if anyone were to retaliate, his counter-escalation is going to be even sharper," said Vishnu Varathan, head of macro research for Asia ex-Japan at Mizuho. The latest developments sparked Thursday's steep selloff on Wall Street and the confirmation that the S&P 500 b was in a correction, just a week after the Nasdaq confirmed the same."I think Trump 2.0 is nothing like Trump 1.0. This time, the president seems prepared to let U.S. markets and the economy suffer while he implements his 'America first' goals," said Michael Strobaek, global chief investment officer at Lombard Odier. Typical safe haven assets like gold have meanwhile been beneficiaries of the escalating trade war, as the yellow metal reached a record high of $2,990.09 an ounce on Friday. It was on track to gain 2.6% for the week.Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index similarly gained 1%, but was headed for a 2.3% weekly decline. China's CSI300 blue-chip index advanced 1.4% and was set to rise 0.6% for the week.China is taking issue with Trump's move to link tariffs to fentanylBilawal urges PM to form National Action Plan 2Wife of detained Palestinian Columbia student says she was naive to believe he was safe from arrest
Canada Latest News, Canada Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Trump and Zelenskyy trade barbs as US-Ukraine relations sour over the war with RussiaTrump and Zelenskyy trade barbs as US-Ukraine relations sour over the war with Russia
Read more »
Asia shares get China boost, gold heads for eighth straight weekly gainAsia shares get China boost, gold heads for eighth straight weekly gain
Read more »
Gold hovers near record peak on weaker US dollar; US data eyedIf inflationary pressures lead the Fed to keep rates high, gold's appeal could diminish
Read more »
Azerbaijan-Pakistan business forum signs MoU worth $2.5mln to bolster tradeThe trade relationship between Azerbaijan and Pakistan has seen steady growth
Read more »
Azerbaijan-Pakistan business forum signs MoU worth $2.5m to bolster tradeThe trade relationship between Azerbaijan and Pakistan has seen steady growth
Read more »
Israel-Gaza war behind record high US anti-Muslim incidents, advocacy group saysCAIR said it recorded the highest number of anti-Muslim and anti-Arab complaints – 8,658 – in 2024
Read more »