New Zealand’s NZX will be the first stock market to open after US President Donald Trump lifts the veil on his Liberation Day tariff regime.
Stocks on Wall Street rallied in the run-up to the big reveal, with the S&P 500 up 0.3% in late trading, while Europe was on the back foot as Germany’s DAX 30 slipped 0.7% and the UK’s FTSE 100 declined 0.3%.
Speculation has been rife as to the make-up of the tariff regime, with Sky News reporting a tiered approach of three bands – 10%, 15% and 20% – differing by country and industry, while a 20% broad-brush has previously been tipped as an option.
“Fair to say that even after today, the scope of tariffs will likely remain uncertain,” Bank of New Zealand senior markets strategist Jason Wong said in a note. “The only thing we can be certain about is that as a result of the tariffs, US inflation will be higher, and growth will be lower.”
The European Union is reportedly working on a retaliatory package, while China has been taking steps to limit the potential impact of new tariffs. Mexico has said it won’t engage in tit-for-tat tariffs, while the UK won’t rush to action for fear of undermining trade deal talks with the US.
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Australian futures are pointing to a 0.2% increase for the S&P/ASX 200 index, which opens two hours after New Zealand’s NZX. The S&P/NZX 50 index eked out a small gain yesterday in whippy trading, and is up 0.3% so far this week.
Fisher & Paykel Healthcare and Mainfreight have been among locally listed companies pushed around by the waxing and waning tariff sentiment.
Meanwhile, Tesla rallied in a volatile trading session on reports Elon Musk will soon step back from his government role. The electric vehicle maker tumbled earlier in the session on weak March quarter global sales figures.
And potential bidders are emerging for TikTok US as the April 5 deadline draws near for China’s ByteDance to find a buyer or face a ban in the world’s biggest economy.
The kiwi dollar continued to nudge higher, trading at 57.35 US cents at 7am in Auckland from 57.21 cents yesterday, as the greenback remains soggy.
There’s no major local data scheduled for today, while Australian trade figures and the Reserve Bank of Australia’s financial stability review are due across the Tasman.
Reporting by Paul McBeth. Image from Thomas Kupper on Unsplash.