PARIS: President Donald Trump sent global stock markets tumbling on Monday by threatening to hike tariffs on US$200 billion of Chinese goods to force the pace in stuttering trade talks between the economic superpowers.
The Dow Jones index, which fell by over 400 points at the opening bell, had clawed back more than half of that loss by the late New York morning. "Trump has taken the proverbial sledgehammer to the walnut this morning and the only two words likely to be on the minds of traders and investors this week are 'trade talks'," said OANDA senior market analyst Jeffrey Halley.
"Investors will remain bearish on the yuan, as they reprice in trade war risks," Ken Cheung, senior foreign-exchange strategist at Mizuho Bank."The news was unexpected."