Donald Trump
Naomi Rovnick and Rae Wee
ReutersToday at 15:00
Anxiety rippled across previously buoyant global markets on Friday, as traders cautiously awaited US inflation data, while fresh White House tariffs on pharmaceuticals weighed heavily on Asian bourses and public financing concerns weighed on sterling. MSCI’s index of global stocks headed for its first weekly loss in four after U.S. President Donald Trump unveiled 100pc duties on imported branded drugs as well as new tariffs on goods from trucks to kitchen cabinets.
The latest salvo, which Trump said was to protect the US manufacturing industry and national security, follows wide-ranging duties on trading partners of up to 50pc and other targeted levies on imported products such as steel. It’s the latest upheaval for global businesses already struggling with snarled supply chains, soaring costs and consumer uncertainty caused by Trump’s trade war. The barrage has cast a pall over global growth, while the Federal Reserve has said it is also contributing to higher US consumer prices. A broad gauge of Asian shares outside Japan closed 1.4pc lower, led by falls in South Korea and Hong Kong as Japanese stocks closed flat and mainland Chinese shares lost almost 1pc. Europe’s regional STOXX 600 share index traded 0.3pc higher as major European drugmakers like Roche and Novo Nordisk recovered from initial losses and traders sought shelter from US interest rate uncertainty in euro zone assets.