[HONG KONG] Markets edged up on Tuesday after a largely positive day on Wall Street with investors eyeing a busy week of data and earnings releases that could provide clues about the effects of Donald Trump’s trade policies.
A month that started with the explosion of the US president’s “Liberation Day” tariffs on April 2 was on course for a somewhat calmer close as governments line up to cut deals to avert the full force of the measures.
But while there is a hope that the sweeping measures can be tempered before a 90-day stay of execution comes to an end in July, there appears to be little movement with the main focus of the levies – China.
Reports last week said China was considering exempting some US goods from its retaliatory tariffs but Beijing has said there are no active negotiations between the economic superpowers.
On Monday an official denied Trump’s claims to have spoken with President Xi Jinping.
The White House has imposed 10 per cent tariffs on most US trading partners and a separate 145 per cent levy on many products from China. Beijing has responded with 125 per cent tariffs of its own.
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The chance of a deal between the two for now seems remote, with US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent telling CNBC that negotiations were ongoing but the ball was in China’s court.
“We’ll see where this goes,” he said in an interview aired on Monday.
“As I’ve repeatedly said, I believe it’s up to China to de-escalate because they sell five times more to us than we sell to them, so these 125 per cent tariffs are unsustainable.”
While uncertainty rules on trading floors, Asian markets pushed higher on Tuesday, with Hong Kong, Shanghai, Sydney, Seoul, Singapore, Taipei, Manila in positive territory.
Tokyo was closed for a holiday.
Data this week could give an idea about the impact of Trump’s measures on companies, with tech titans Amazon, Apple, Meta and Microsoft all reporting their first-quarter earnings this week,
Also on the agenda are key economic data, including jobs creation and the Federal Reserve’s preferred gauge of inflation amid warnings the tariffs could reignite prices.
“While consumer and business survey data continue to plunge, the hard data has shown resilience, a trend likely to persist for a month or two until the effects of the Liberation tariffs become evident mid-year,” said Tony Sycamore, a market analyst at IG.
“If President Trump’s tariffs are reduced, weaker hard data will be looked through, allowing the US economy and stock markets to muddle through the end of the year.”
However, he added that if tariffs stayed elevated, stock markets could resume their losses and the chances of a recession rose. AFP
