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Stocks Jolted by Tariff Anxiety as Dollar Climbs: Markets Wrap

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Stocks Jolted by Tariff Anxiety as Dollar Climbs: Markets Wrap


(Bloomberg) — Fast-changing news on tariffs flummoxed traders across asset classes Friday, shattering the calm spurred earlier by receding anxieties around the tech sector. A White House assertion that President Donald Trump plans to impose levies on China, Mexico and Canada this weekend sent the dollar up as stocks got hit.

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The S&P 500 erased a rally that approached 1%. The greenback notched its best week since November, with the White House saying Trump intends to impose 25% tariffs on Mexico and Canada as well as a 10% levy on China Saturday. The US also denied a news report that the president planned to delay the implementation by a month, which earlier drove the dollar marginally lower. The loonie lost 0.4% while the peso was little changed. Oil jumped.

Speaking Friday, the US president said he would impose tariffs on a wide range of imports in the coming months, including on steel, aluminum, oil and gas, pharmaceuticals, as well as semiconductors — ramping up his threats to hit trading partners with new levies. He also said that the US would “be doing something very substantial” with tariffs targeting the European Union.

*TRUMP: NOT CONCERNED ABOUT MARKET REACTION AROUND TARIFFS

“We’ve cited the potential for volatility surrounding tariffs, and today we saw it play out in the markets,” said Daniel Skelly, head of Morgan Stanley’s Wealth Management Market Research & Strategy Team. “As was the case for Monday’s AI news, it remains to be seen how the markets will absorb this development on a longer-term basis.”

Skelly also noted that there are still many unanswered questions, and the picture could look very different in the coming days.

“Overall, though, this week has been a reminder of how unexpected events can quickly shift market perceptions,” he said.

The slide in equities came after a relatively positive start to the day, with the market briefly erasing losses that were driven by concern that a cheap artificial intelligence-model from Chinese startup DeepSeek could make valuations of the booming technology tough to justify.

“Bulls have tried their best to keep calm and carry on through all the turbulence this week, but the pressure of uncertainty keeps them from peacefully grazing on stocks,” said Max Gokhman at Franklin Templeton Investment Solutions.

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