By Marc Jones
LONDON (Reuters) -Below are some of the sizable financial market moves prompted by the actions of U.S. President Donald Trump in recent weeks from his re-ignition of a global trade war to the signal that Europe can no longer take the support of U.S. military muscle for granted.
It is almost easier to list the parts of the market that haven’t been bashed around than those that have. The numbers are big. Roughly $5 trillion wiped of the value of world stocks, the bulk of that from U.S. markets and the super-sized tech firms that have been on stratospheric runs in recent years.
King dollar has been brought down a peg or two amid worries that a global trade war combined with a mass cull of government workers will finally put the brakes on the U.S. economy.
Euro and yen have had their own fires lit thanks to Europe’s massive defence spending plans and the Bank of Japan’s interest rate hikes.
“We’ve seen a sea change in perception in the almost two months since President Trump was inaugurated,” Bill Clinton’s Treasury Secretary Larry Summers posted on X, adding election night expectations of a rampant economy and U.S. “exceptionalism” under Trump have evaporated for now.
Brent crude oil has slipped 2% so far this month, with year-to-date losses of almost 5%, a sign that commodities traders too are positioning for weaker global demand.
If it wasn’t for COVID-19 and the enormous spike in inflation and interest rates it led to in 2022, then this would be Wall Street’s worst start to a year since the depths of the financial crisis.
In the last month, the shares of the so-called Magnificent Seven – Alphabet (GOOG
Tesla’s shares have been hit even harder, crashing 30% over the month and seeing their biggest one one-day dive in four-and-a half years earlier this week.
Activists have lately staged so-called ‘Tesla (TSLA) Takedown’ protests to voice anger over Musk’s role in sweeping cuts to the federal workforce at the behest of Trump and cancellation of contracts that fund humanitarian programs around the world.
At close: March 12 at 4:00:01 PM EDT
Musk, the world’s richest person, is spearheading the Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE.
“They’re harming a great American company,” Trump said at the White House, referring to the demonstrators, alongside Musk who was wearing a black “Make America Great Again” baseball cap.
https://media.zenfs.com/en/reuters-finance.com/3520512359d60fefb2c8653935165585
2025-03-13 09:47:12
