U.S.-China Trade Frictions Back on the Front Burner

Global markets saw brief rebound falter as renewed U.S.-China trade tensions pressured equities, while bonds gained on weak U.K. labor data and the yen strengthened amid Japanese political development

Key Takeaways

• Trade War Escalation Sends Global Stocks Lower: Yesterday’s rebound turned out to be brief as the latest tit-for-tat in the China-U.S. trade war, which looked to be nothing more than a nothing burger this time yesterday, has reversed course today. China raised the stakes by placing limits on U.S. entities tied to one of South Korea’s biggest shipbuilders. And the verbal threats from the White House have resurfaced as a result. U.S. equity futures are trading -1.0% lower at the current time, and that decline has been matched in Europe. Asian stocks were also clocked for some hefty losses.