Equities bleed as trade tensions intensify

The Trade War theme dominated the first trading session of the week causing equity indices to collapse all over the globe. Declines were observed during the Asian, European and now at the beginning of the US session. As a trade spat between China and US continues the outlook for the global equity markets remains blurr. In turn safe haven assets such as JPY and CHF shine. Elsewhere, oil reversed its early drop thanks to reports of OPEC+ considering smaller output increase

In 2016 world’s biggest oil producers agreed to cut output in order to shrink the commodity surplus on the market and elevate prices from their depressed levels. This decision turned out to be successful as the oversupply was limited and the prices advanced. However, this market may be now set to see deficit and this is what the upcoming OPEC+ meeting will be all about.

The Swedish krona is trading lower on the day after an opposition party, known for its anti-euro stance, said it would call for a referendum on the country’s European Union membership after general elections in September. The krona dipped in the morning as USDSEK jumped to above 8.85 while EURSEK crossed 10.27.

Over the course of the recent days major cryptocurrencies have settled down being steered by nothing. However, on Sunday the Bank of International Settlements, being regarded as a bank for central banks all around the world, issued a statement where it warned virtual currencies are not scalable and are more likely to suffer a breakdown in trust and efficiency along with the rising number of people using them.

General elections (parliamentary and presidential) in Turkey will take place on 24 June and it was called by President Recep Erdogan in late April as he looked to increase his grip on power. After elections the new president will lead the executive branch, and will be responsible for issuing presidential decrees during a state of emergency, hence its position will be significantly strengthened.

Renewed trade tensions between China and the US led to moderate losses across equities on Friday, and Asian indices did not begin a new week in upbeat moods at all. European investors seem to share this quite downbeat spirits as well as major stock markets have opened lower. Let us recall that the US administration imposed levies on $50 billion Chinese goods warning that more tariffs are on the pipeline should China retaliate.