Last weekend, there was real optimism surrounding the trade war between the US and China, and it looked as if there could well be some light at the end of the tunnel. Reports that America had agreed to delay new tariffs on Chinese imports by 90 days – and China had agreed to import more from the US – had helped boost the stock markets. However, Trump took to Twitter late on Tuesday night, to tell the world he was a ‘tariff man’.
The Dow Jones industrial average dropped by almost 800 points, as investors are now concerned that the two largest economies in the world won’t be able to strike a peace deal in 2019. Trump exacerbated the problem when he warned Beijing that he will impose higher tariffs soon unless China makes concessions. Volatility is to be expected when the president of the US is as capricious as he is.
It was quiet on the economic data front yesterday, but today we will see the balance of trade figures for October, as well as initial jobless claims up to 1 December 2018. We will also see the Markit composite and services PMI readings and the ISM non-manufacturing PMI. Fed Chair Jerome Powell is also set to give a speech later tonight.
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