Morning Bid: Forget threats, the tariff war is underway

Mike Dolan

Wed, Mar 12, 2025, 4:01 AM 8 min read

By Mike Dolan

LONDON (Reuters) - Morning Bid U.S.

What matters successful U.S. and planetary markets today

By Mike Dolan, Editor-At-Large, Financial Industry and Financial Markets

The specified menace of a commercialized warfare unnerved markets, but they present person to header with the existent thing, arsenic U.S. tariff hikes connected metals imports footwear successful contiguous and retaliation comes swiftly. I'll sermon the ongoing marketplace gyrations below.

Today, I'll besides instrumentality a person look astatine U.S. President Donald Trump's 'reaction function' toward fiscal marketplace volatility and see if it whitethorn impact argumentation decisions going forward.

Today's Market Minute

* Trump's accrued tariffs connected each U.S. alloy and aluminumimports took effect connected Wednesday. * TSMC has pitched U.S. spot designers Nvidia Advanced MicroDevices and Broadcom astir taking stakes successful a associated task thatwould run Intel's factories, according to 4 sourcesfamiliar with the matter. * Greenland's pro-business absorption Demokraatit party,which favours a dilatory attack to independency from Denmark, wonTuesday's parliamentary predetermination that was dominated by Trump'spledge to instrumentality power of the island. * The United States agreed connected Tuesday to resume subject aidand quality sharing with Ukraine aft Kyiv said it wasready to enactment Washington's connection for a 30-day ceasefirewith Russia, the countries said successful a associated statement. * The Republican-controlled U.S. House of Representatives onTuesday passed a stopgap measure to support national agencies fundedpast Friday, averting a partial shutdown opening this weekend.

Tariff tremors

Tuesday was yet different down time for the S&P500 aft a volatile league connected Wall Street, though Trump's pullback from a precocious 50% tariff sideswipe against Canada calmed the horses somewhat.

The imaginable of a impermanent ceasefire successful the Russia-Ukraine warfare besides elicited immoderate relief, adjacent if Ukraine is the lone broadside connected committee with the U.S.-brokered woody truthful far.

And present somewhat punch drunk markets are waiting to spot the latest U.S. user terms report, though past month's ostentation is somewhat beside the constituent for the markets and the Federal Reserve - arsenic some are much wary of what's coming down the pike.

Headline and halfway ostentation are expected to person ticked down a notch successful February, with the second falling backmost beneath 3%.

Fed officials are successful their accepted nationalist blackout play up of adjacent week's meeting. Markets expect nary further easing until June, arsenic the cardinal slope volition request to parse the tariff interaction and economical downturn signals.