Daily summary: indices return to declines after escalation of trade war with China 🔔

Indices completely erase gains and return to declines following the escalation of the trade war between the U.S. and China. At the time of publication, the US500 is down -0.20%, US100 -0.10%, and US2000 -1.60%.

The U.S. dollar is down 0.40%, while other currencies benefiting from nervous market sentiment — the Japanese yen and Swiss franc — are gaining. USDJPY is down 0.90%.

Futures contracts based on Chinese stocks are seeing sharp losses. CHN.cash is down 1.5%, more than erasing all intraday gains. A significant increase is observed in the USDCNH currency pair, where gains reach 0.8%.

White House spokesperson Levitt stated that the U.S. has imposed an additional 50% tariff on China, raising the total tariffs to a record-high 104%. Additional trade restrictions are set to take effect tomorrow, April 9th.

Austan Goolsbee from the Fed expressed growing concern about the economic consequences of the new U.S. tariffs. Goolsbee pointed out that companies may be reluctant to invest in the U.S. in the short term due to unclear and shifting rules in international trade and economic policy direction.

He also admitted that the scale of the tariffs is significantly greater than previously expected or modeled, which further complicates the situation.

According to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, about 70 countries have so far contacted the U.S. administration seeking to negotiate trade agreements. However, the situation remains far from clear, especially in the context of the tariff escalation with China.

According to White House Press Secretary Leavitt, Trump believes that the U.S. has the labor force and sufficient domestic resources to produce iPhones within the country.

Trump believes that China has no choice but to negotiate a new trade deal with the U.S. Nevertheless, the announced tariff rates come into effect today and will be enforced starting tomorrow unless China responds to the U.S. call.

Gold is posting slight gains, but the declines in the broader market are also impacting the liquidity of this commodity. Gold is up 0.15% to $2,980 per ounce.

The negative sentiment in traditional markets is also spilling over into the cryptocurrency market. Bitcoin is down -2.80% to $76,900, and Ethereum is down -5.20% to $1,470.