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As on : 12-Feb-2025

Market Commentary - Foreign Markets
12-Feb-2025 10:06

US Markets Mixed Amid Trade War Concerns and Tariff Announcements

The Nasdaq fell 70.41 points (0.4%) to 19,643.86, the S&P 500 crept up 2.06 points or less than a tenth of a percent to 6,068.50 and the Dow rose 123.24 points (0.3%) to 44,593.65.

Stocks moved downwards in early trading amid lingering concerns about a global trade war after President Donald Trump officially announced tariffs on US steel and aluminium imports. A statement from the White House said Trump is reinstating a 25% tariff on steel imports and increasing tariffs on aluminium imports to 25%.

Networking and computer hardware stocks too were considerably weak, contributing to the decrease by the tech-heavy Nasdaq. Airline stocks were also significantly weak as reflected by the 2.1% slump by the NYSE Arca Airline Index. Gold and biotechnology stocks too notably moved downwards while oil producer stocks moved higher along with the price of crude oil.

Asia-Pacific stocks turned in a mixed performance on Tuesday with the Japanese markets closed for a holiday. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index slumped by 1.1% while South Korea's Kospi advanced by 0.7%. The major European markets all moved to the upside on the day while the German DAX Index climbed by 0.6%, the French CAC 40 Index rose by 0.3% and the UK's FTSE 100 Index inched up by 0.1%.

In the bond market, treasuries moved l after ending the previous session roughly flat. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, is up by climbed 4.4 bps to 4.53%.

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