Global Markets Continue Selloff After Trump Tariffs

By Dow Jones Newswires StaffStock markets around the world continued their selloff Friday, bond yields slipped and oil slumped further after President Trump's plan to impose sweeping tariffs that were worse than expected.The head of the World Trade Organization said late Thursday that global trade flows will likely fall this year while new rounds of retaliation will deepen the economic impact.U.S. stock futures were down around 0.5% early in Europe after losing trillions of dollars in market value Thursday and marking their worst day since March 2020.Equities markets from Japan, where the Nikkei average closed down 2.8%, to Malaysia ended in the red, with particularly sharp selloffs in auto, electronic, and finance stocks. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 entered correction territory. "Asia is hit the hardest, with Southeast Asia particularly singled out," by Trump's tariffs, Nomura economists said in a note, lowering their gross domestic product estimates by 0.1-0.6 percentage points across those countries. Markets in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Indonesia were closed.European stock indexes were also in the red at the open after the declines in Asia. The Stoxx Europe 600 fell 0.9%, dragged by heavy losses in banks, basic resources and oil and gas sectors. France's CAC 40 was down 0.8%, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 fell 0.7% and Germany's DAX lost 0.6%.U.S. Treasurys continued to rally, with prices rising and yields falling as investors remain on the side of caution. The 10-year Treasury yield, which fell below 4% overnight, last traded down four basis points at 3.989%, according to Tradeweb.The U.S. dollar remained weak after the DXY index against a basket of major currencies slumped to a six-month low on Thursday. "The erratic nature of U.S. trade policy undermined investor confidence," IG analysts said in a note. This has sparked fears of "a massive reallocation of capital away from U.S. markets." The DXY dollar index fell 0.2% to 101.915, having hit a low of 101.267 on Thursday.Oil prices were headed for a weekly loss of more than 5% after U.S. President Trump's tariff blitz and OPEC+'s plans for a larger-than-expected supply hike in May shook the market. In early European trade, crude benchmarks extended the previous session's losses, with Brent down 1.9% to $68.77 a barrel and WTI falling 2.1% to $65.55 a barrel.Bitcoin was up 2.4% at $83,910.5.Write to Barcelona Editors at [email protected]