Global stocks collapsed and the dollar continued to fall on Friday, while a manic collapse of the bonds was installed in a brutal end of the week of the world’s customs tariffs which fueled the fears of a deep recession and shaken the confidence of investors in American assets.
Anxiety has caused a rush to the shelters, raising the Swiss franc at its highest level for ten years against the dollar, and gold to a new summit after a brief but massive relief rally following the decision of the American president Donald Trump to temporarily lower customs duties to many countries.
The withdrawal of US Treasury bills accelerated during Asian hours, the yield of good to 10 years of 4.475 %, earning more than 40 basic points during the week, the highest increase since 2001, according to LSEG data.
Analysts and investors around the world have stressed that the massive sale of treasury bills and the weakness of the dollar this week show that confidence in the greatest economy in the world has been shaken.
“There is clearly an exodus of American assets. A decrease in currency and the bond market is never a good sign,” said Kyle Rodda, principal financial analyst at Capital.com. “This goes beyond taking into account a slowdown in growth and commercial uncertainty.
In Asia, the Japanese Nikkei dropped 4.5 % over the day, while shares in South Korea fell 1.7 %. The widest MSCI index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was down 0.5 %.
American term contracts for the S&P 500 and the NASDAQ fell by about 1 % each after a sharp drop in the night.
“Short -term prospects for global risk assets remain uncertain given the concerns about growth and inflation, fluid feelings and rapid developments in trade and pricing,” said Vasu Menon, director general of investment strategy at OCBC Bank in Singapore.
Investors are concerned about climbing trade war between China and the United States after Trump increased customs duties on Chinese imports, actually bringing them to 145 %.
China retaliated by increasing its customs duties in the United States with each increase in Trump, which raises fear that Beijing will increase customs duties beyond the current 84 %.
Chinese actions started on halftone this Friday. The CSI300 index lost 0.5 %, while the Hong Kong Hang Seng reference index fell 0.38 %.
James Athey, manager of fixed income securities at Marlborough, said the prospects remain darker and more uncertain than they were a month ago. “There are still a lot of unanswered and unanswered questions.
The dollar loses its crown
The US dollar has been the subject of incessant sales in recent weeks, operators seeking refuge with the Japanese Yen, the Swiss franc and the euro.
Friday, the dollar reached its lowest level for 10 years against the Swiss franc and its lowest level for six months against the Yen. The euro jumped 1.7 % to 1.13855 dollars, a level that had not been reached since February 2022.
The dollar index, which measures the greenback against six other units, fell below 100 for the first time since July 2023. The drop in the dollar has relieved certain currencies of emerging markets, including the Ringgit.
Most of the markets have ignored data from the US Labor Department, which showed that consumer prices have dropped unexpectedly in March, although improving inflation is not likely to be maintained in the wake of customs tariffs.
Meanwhile, the brutal fall of American treasury bills this week, evoking the “rush to liquidity” of the COVID era, has rekindled fears of fragility on the largest bond market in the world.
Obligations yields at thirty years have reached 4.90 %, in the process of knowing their highest weekly increase since at least 1982, according to LSEG data.
In the raw materials sector, the price of gold has reached a record level due to the flows of refuge values. It was up 1.25 % to $ 3,214 per ounce.
Oil prices slipped into the first exchanges on Friday after dropping more than $ 2 per barrel on Thursday. The term contracts on West Texas Intermediate oil fell by 0.48%, while Brent oil contracts fell by 0.46%.
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