Asian markets fall, dollar strengthens as Trump talks tariffs

SYDNEY, Feb 10 — Asian shares slipped and the dollar edged higher today after US President Donald Trump repeated warnings of imminent tariffs including on steel and aluminium, an inflationary move that could limit the scope for rate cuts.

Speaking to reporters on Air Force One, Trump said he would announce today 25 per cent tariffs on all steel and aluminium imports into the US, and reveal other reciprocal tariffs tomorrow or Wednesday.

The comments came just after German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said the European Union was ready to respond “within an hour” if the US levied tariffs on European goods, highlighting the risks of an escalating trade war.

China’s retaliatory tariffs on some US exports are due to take effect today, with no sign as yet of progress between Beijing and Washington.

Analysts assume currencies from those countries targeted by Trump will tend to fall against the dollar to help compensate in part for the taxes, keeping their exports competitive.

Tariffs could also put upward pressure on US inflation and further limit room for the Federal Reserve to ease policy.

Markets had already scaled back expected rate cuts this year to just 36 basis points, from around 42 basis points, following an upbeat payrolls report on Friday.

Fed Chair Jerome Powell is due to appear before the House of Representatives on Tuesday and Wednesday and the impact of tariffs on policy is sure to be a hot button issue.

His Wednesday testimony will also follow consumer price data for January which might hint at early pressure given anecdotal evidence of firms raising prices in anticipation of the taxes.

A survey of consumers out on Friday showed a sharp rise in inflation expectations for the year ahead, though the longer-term outlook was steadier.

Dollar up with yields

Investors reacted by pushing the dollar higher, with its index firm at 108.26. The euro dipped 0.1 per cent to US$1.0313 (RM4.45), while the trade-exposed Australian dollar fell 0.2 per cent to US$0.6260.

The dollar gained 0.3 per cent on the yen to 151.82, though the Japanese currency has been underpinned by speculation the Bank of Japan will raise rates in the next few months.

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan eased 0.3 per cent, while Japan’s Nikkei slipped 0.3 per cent. South Korea’s main index fell 0.6 per cent.

Wall Street futures started lower but soon rallied as investors looked ahead to another busy week of earnings. S&P 500 futures firmed 0.2 per cent, while Nasdaq futures added 0.3 per cent.

Shares had been roiled by some mixed earnings numbers last week, though overall earnings per share growth is running at 12 per cent and above early expectations of 8 per cent.

“Tariffs are a key downside risk to our 2025 EPS forecasts,” warned analysts at Goldman Sachs, who estimated that the effective US tariff rate would likely rise by five percentage points, knocking 1 per cent to 2 per cent off earnings per share.

“Heightened policy uncertainty represents downside risk to valuation because it raises the equity risk premium and implies downward pressure on fair value,” they said in a note.

The risk of reigniting inflation also slugged Treasuries, and yields on 10-year notes were at 4.495 per cent, from last week’s low of 4.400 per cent.

The strength of the dollar and higher yields have not prevented gold prices from reaching record highs at US$2,886 an ounce, helped in part by talk Trump might impose tariffs on the metal.

This has led to stepped up demand for physical gold in London to be shipped to the US to avoid any new taxes, reflected by selling of LME gold futures to buy Comex futures.

The metal was steady at US$2,860 per ounce early today.

Oil prices have not fared so well given worries a trade war will hurt global economic growth and thus demand for energy.

The market was due a bounce after three weeks of losses and Brent edged up 19 cents to US$74.85 today, while US crude rose 20 cents to US$71.20 per barrel. — Reuters