The scholarships in Asia retreat Wednesday, April 16, under the new fronts opened by Donald Trump in his customs offensive, targeting certain minerals and electronic objects, while the restrictions on the chips imposed in Nvidia weigh down tech shares.
Reflux of scholarships, Trump blows the cold again
Around 02:30 GMT on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, the Nikkei star index ceded 0.73% to 34,016 points, and the widen Topix index 0.58% to 2,498 points.
The Seoul Stock Exchange fell 0.60%, Taïpei lost 1.68%. Sydney was exceptional (+0.27%).
Chinese places stung from the nose: the Hong Kong Hang Seng index lost almost 2%, the Shanghainean composite index lost 0.52%and that of Shenzhen 1.15%.
Investors remained very nervous in the face of the trade war undertaken by Washington, after the announcement of new surveys on critical minerals and “derivatives” (smartphones, electric vehicles), paving the way for American customs from customs. And the rebound in the automotive titles noted on Monday after conciliatory remarks by Donald Trump quickly broke out. “Investors seem to be wary of communications from the Trump administration, which frequently changes its policy overnight”Tokai Tokyo Intelligence experts are sorry.
Faced with the multiple reversals of Washington on the customs war, “The market relief rebounds seem weaker, while massive sales movements are stronger”souligne Stephen Innes, de SPI Asset Management. “From now on, all eyes are turned to Asia: Washington’s commercial negotiations with Japan”which start this Wednesday, “Appear as the first real test of this carrot and stick diplomacy”he insists.
-Fleet tumble
Technological titles are particularly suffering, after the announcement of new American restrictions on semiconductor exports to China. This could cost $ 5.5 billion in exceptional load in the first quarter to the American giant of Nvidia fleas. “This decision is alarming (for investors). It testifies to the fluctuating nature of the customs duties imposed by Trump, to the point of having revoked the concessions previously granted to Nvidia ”warns Vishnu Varathan, from Mizuho Bank to Singapore.
And this suggests that reversals “Abusive” Can aggravate the Sino-American underlying tensions, he warned, quoted by Bloomberg. Nvidia’s setbacks can generate “A contagion extending to Japanese titles linked to semiconductors”observe the analysts of Tokai Tokyo Intelligence. Around 02:30 GMT, they tumbled, like Advantest (-5.08%), Disco Corp (-4.4%) or Sumco (-3.8%) in Tokyo, or SK Hynix (-2.9%) in Seoul.
New dollar withdrawal, an unprecedented record of gold
Around 02:30 GMT, the American currency continued to retreat against Japanese currency, yielding 0.31% to 142.78 yen for a dollar. The greenback remains under pressure from the strong concerns concerning the economic prospects of the United States, which knew its usual status of refuge value. The appetite for American debt, also the subject of lively distrust of investors last week, stabilized on Wednesday, with a yield around 4.3253%.
Sign of nervousness always lively, however, gold, a refuge value par excellence, always attracts investors fleeing assets at risk and rose to a new historic record on Wednesday, at 3.275 dollars perce. It climbed 1.22% around 02:30 GMT. “A strong uncertainty, but also the increase in purchases of central banks and the rate reductions in rate by the American federal reserve continue to support gold”underlines Daniela Sabin Hathorn, Capital.com analyst.
Oil is back, caught in the customs storm
The oil market remained under pressure in the face of the commercial storm, likely to lead energy consumption, and after the downward revisions of anticipation of global demand. “One of the great pitfalls for oil is not so much the overabundance of the offer as macroeconomic dilapidation”Rolls Stephen Innes, of Spi Am. “Unless demand bounces back or the customs war calibrates significantly, lowering tensions will continue to weigh”he insists.
Around 02:30 GMT, the barrel of American WTI fell 0.16% to 61.23 dollars and that of Brent from the North Sea from 0.14% to 64.58 dollars.
