Morning Bid: Stocks take a breath, but yuan, Treasuries convulse

Mike Dolan

Tue, Apr 8, 2025, 4:09 AM 5 min read

By Mike Dolan

LONDON (Reuters) - After a chaotic Monday, equity trading appears to person calmed somewhat adjacent arsenic the U.S.-inspired commercialized warfare ratchets up. Speculation astir a devaluation of China's yuan has moved halfway signifier on with a snapback successful U.S. Treasury yields.

Today's Market Minute

* China refused to bow to what it called "blackmail" from the United States arsenic a planetary commercialized warfare ignited by President Donald Trump's sweeping tariffs showed small motion of abating connected Tuesday.

* The U.S. dollar fell connected Tuesday portion the euro rallied arsenic stocks rebounded successful Asia and Europe connected hopes that U.S. volition participate negotiations implicit his sweeping tariffs that person roiled markets for 3 days.

* The European Commission said connected Monday it had offered a "zero-for-zero" tariff woody to avert a commercialized warfare with the U.S. arsenic EU ministers agreed to prioritize negotiations, portion striking backmost with 25% tariffs connected immoderate U.S. imports.

* Gold's latest gallop to all-time highs has drawn comparisons with the past clip governmental and economical turmoil were the main drivers of grounds prices, backmost successful 1980. But marketplace players accidental the quality of this rally - and perchance its quality to endure - look different.

* The United States is starting to lucifer an emerging marketplace much than a developed country, the caput of pan-European banal speech relation Euronext said connected Tuesday.

Stocks instrumentality a breath, but yuan, Treasuries convulse

Highlighting conscionable however fragile marketplace sentiment presently is, Monday's 5-7% intraday swings successful Wall Street's banal indexes were mostly driven by a rogue quality header astir a intermission successful tariffs that was rapidly denied. This besides reflected however overmuch speculative abbreviated selling appears to person built up implicit the past week, exaggerating the withering downswing.

In the end, the S&P 500 closed lone marginally little connected the day, though it's inactive disconnected much than 10% since past Wednesday's tariff announcement.

Gasping for enactment aft a torrid week, banal futures and satellite bourses each staged a humble bounce connected Tuesday, with Japan's Nikkei emitting the biggest suspiration of alleviation with a 6% rally.

Tokyo outperformed aft President Donald Trump said Japan was sending a commercialized negotiating squad to America and U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said helium expects Japan to get "priority" treatment. Japan's Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said separately helium told Trump to rethink tariff policies.

Meanwhile, China refused to backmost down connected its retaliatory tariffs, prompting Trump to endanger raising U.S. import levies connected Chinese goods to much than 100%.