The US dollar hovered near a two-and-a-half week high, while copper surged to a record peak overnight, following Donald Trump’s escalation of global trade tensions.
The US president called for a 50% tariff on copper and warned that new levies on semiconductors and pharmaceuticals were forthcoming.
Asian stock markets delivered a mixed performance as investors weighed the latest trade threats. Japan’s Nikkei rose 0.3%, South Korea’s Kospi gained 0.5%, and China’s blue-chip CSI 300 index advanced 0.3%. In contrast, Australia’s benchmark fell 0.5%, and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng dropped 0.7%.
Japan and South Korea, both key US trading partners, face an August 1 deadline to strike trade agreements or face higher tariffs. Trump initially described the date as “firm, but not 100% firm” on Monday, before taking a tougher stance the next day, declaring, “no extensions will be granted.”
In the US, markets closed lower on Tuesday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 0.4% to 44,240.76, the S&P 500 edged down 0.1% to 6,225.52, and the Nasdaq ended flat at 20,418.46.
In bond markets, the yield on 10-year US Treasuries rose to 4.410%, up from 4.383% the previous day.
