Asia Summary and Highlights 3 April

Asia Session

Trump's tariff finally comes to light and hits everyone with at least 10% with some countries getting hit with 50%+ tariffs. Risk asset drop on its mark significantly and market participants are closely watching for other countries reaction. USD/JPY is down more than one percent at 147.56 as U.S. Treasury and JGB yields opened sharply lower.

It was a bloody opening for global equities as Trump's tariff hit. U.S. and Chinese equities have tried to close the gap while Hong Kong and Japanese equities stayed deep in the red. It is understandable after the barrage of tariffs Trump imposed on almost everyone. Despite USD performing individually, AUD/USD is dropping towards 0.6268, a 0.46% losses for the session, NZD/USD down 0.2% to 0.5734 while USD/CAD is close to unchanged. European currencies gained with EUR/USD up 0.56% and GBP/USD up 0.43%.

North American session

As the market waited for Trump’s tariff announcement, equities and UST yields recovered from early weakness, lifting USD/JPY from a low of 149.10 to highs above 150. EUR/USD was lifted to 1.0850 by a report the EU was planning measures to guard the economy from tariffs. GBP/USD was not far behind, rising to 1.2980. USD/CAD reversed a brief dip to 1.43 while AUD/USD was marginally softer near .63 but NZD/USD remained firm near .5740.. 

March’s ADP employment report was stronger than expected with a 155k increase but had little impact. February factory orders rose by 0.6%, marginally above consensus, with no market response.