Global stock selloff continues into a third day

by Margaryta Kirakosian and Toby Alder

A global selloff in equities extended into a third day and gold topped a fresh record as investors turned risk averse ahead of President Donald Trump’s tariff deadline.  

The Stoxx 600 index slipped 0.3%, with big technology dragging down the benchmark. S&P 500 index contracts dropped 0.4%. Cryptocurrencies retreated and yields on the 10-year US Treasury fell four basis points. Gold climbed above $3,070 an ounce.

Investors have been selling equities in the run up to April 2, when the US plans to announce sweeping reciprocal tariffs that threaten to deepen the trade war and hurt the global economy. Traders will also be watching data on the Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation metric, the core personal consumption expenditures price index, later today.

“Tariffs are creating a lot of fears in the market, not just the level of the tariffs but the way they are implemented as well,” Valerie Genin, head of investments at Barclays Private Bank Monaco told Bloomberg TV. “It seems like investors are just digesting now that tariffs have lose-lose implications for all parties.”

Fed Bank of Boston President Susan Collins said tariffs will likely cause price pressures in the near term, but it was unclear how long that would last. 

Meanwhile, February’s personal income and outlays report is likely to show prices accelerated, according to Bloomberg Economics. They see core PCE inflation coming at 0.35%, twice the pace needed to reach the Fed’s 2% inflation target. 

In corporate news, Lululemon Athletica Inc. shares tumbled 11% in US premarket trading after delivering a disappointing outlook for the year and voicing concerns about consumer spending in the US.

Some of the main moves in markets:

Stocks

• The Stoxx Europe 600 fell 0.3% as of 8:35 a.m. London time
• S&P 500 futures fell 0.5%
• Nasdaq 100 futures fell 0.7%
• Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.4%
• The MSCI Asia Pacific Index fell 1%
• The MSCI Emerging Markets Index fell 0.7%

Currencies

• The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changed
• The euro fell 0.2% to $1.0779
• The Japanese yen rose 0.4% to 150.43 per dollar
• The offshore yuan was little changed at 7.2717 per dollar
• The British pound was little changed at $1.2945

Cryptocurrencies

• Bitcoin fell 2.6% to $85,033.57
• Ether fell 5.1% to $1,904.84

Bonds

• The yield on 10-year Treasuries declined four basis points to 4.32%
• Germany’s 10-year yield declined five basis points to 2.72%
• Britain’s 10-year yield declined five basis points to 4.73%

Commodities

• Brent crude fell 0.3% to $73.83 a barrel
• Spot gold rose 0.4% to $3,070.38 an ounce

This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.

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