World shares retreated on Friday following choppy trading on Wall Street that saw more losses and as investors assess President Donald Trump’s order imposing new tariffs on 68 countries and the European Union starting in seven days.
Trump’s order, which pushed back the tariff deadline earlier set on 1 August, has injected a new dose of uncertainty in an already uncertain process.
In early European trading, Germany’s Dax fell 1.5 per cent to 23,697.31. Britain’s FTSE 100 dropped 0.7 per cent to 9,068.97. In Paris, the CAC 40 shed 1.6 per cent to 7,647.56.
The future for S&P 500 was down 0.8 per cent and that for the Dow Jones Industrial Average was also 0.8 per cent lower.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 slid 0.7 per cent to 40,799.60 while South Korea’s Kospi tumbled 3.9 per cent to 3,119.41.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index shed 1.1 per cent to 24,507.81, while the Shanghai Composite slipped 0.4 per cent to 3,559.95.
Australia’s S&P ASX 200 shed 0.9 per cent to 8,662, India’s BSE Sensex lost 0.4 per cent to 80,837.19 and Taiwan’s TAIEX slid 0.5 per cent to 23,434.38.
“Trump’s new tariff directive, signed behind closed doors just ahead of the 1 August deadline, slaps a new floor under global trade costs: a 10 per cent minimum rate for nearly all partners, with surcharges of 15 per cent or higher for surplus nations,” with Canada drawing particular ire, Stephen Innes of SPI Asset Management said in a commentary.
“This wasn’t just an update — it was a structural rewrite. The average US tariff jumps from 13.3 per cent to 15.2 per cent, a seismic shift from the 2.3 per cent average before Trump retook office. This reshapes the cost calculus for everything from semiconductors to copper pipes,” he added.
Benjamin Picton, senior market strategist at Rabo Bank, said in a commentary about the US tariffs, “The USA is cherry-picking high value-add industry for its own economy while forcing trading partners to grant preferential market access for its exports and supply it with cheap imports. Make no mistake, this is imperial trade.”
On Wall Street on 31 July, Thursday, stocks capped the trading day with more losses after an early big tech rally faded and a healthcare sector pullback led the market lower.