FxGlobalHub: Forex daily recap: Tariff concerns weighing on investor sentiment, U.S. markets await key reports

Stock market

Wall Street fell in early trading as investors readied quarterly earnings, while concerns about tariffs continued to weigh on sentiment.

One of the biggest drags on the Dow was Boeing, which fell 2.4% after Bloomberg reported that China had ordered its airlines to stop taking delivery of Boeing planes in response to the US decision to impose 145% tariffs on Chinese goods.

Federal Register filings on Monday showed that the Trump administration is also launching investigations into pharmaceutical and semiconductor imports as part of its efforts to impose tariffs on those sectors.

“Earnings were pretty good, but this is a market that is just driven by tariff and trade uncertainty, and those are really the only catalysts that matter at this point,” said Ross Mayfield, investment strategist at Baird.

Barclays on Tuesday downgraded its outlook for the U.S. auto and mobility sector, saying Trump's tariffs could weigh on automakers' earnings. Ford shares closed down 2.7% while General Motors shares fell 1.3%

U.S. stock futures fell sharply as investors awaited the release of retail sales data. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures fell 139 points, or 0.3%. S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq 100 futures fell 0.7% and 1.1%, respectively.

🔹 Nasdaq: -0.05%

🔹 S&P 500: -0.17%

🔹 Dow Jones: -0.38%

Forex market

The Forex market had a rather gloomy trading day with prices fluctuating slightly, investors seemed to be focusing quite a lot on Gold and other safe-haven assets.

🔹 USDCAD: +0.64%

🔹 DXY: +0.46%

🔹 AUDUSD: +0.29%

🔹 GBPUSD: +0.29%

🔹 USDJPY: +0.16%

🔹 EURUSD: -0.63%

Commodities market

Gold prices hit a fresh record high at the open on Wednesday (04/16). This was due to Nvidia shares falling more than 6% in late trading yesterday after the chip giant said it would impose $5.5 billion in tariffs on exports of its H20 graphics processing units to China and other countries.

This shows the impact of Trump's retaliatory tariffs and the potential for further escalation of tensions between China and the United States as Trump and Xi Jinping play the bull card... The retaliatory tariff exemptions on phones, laptops and semiconductors are only a small part of the equation, and investors are still worried that the base tariff rate for China remains 20% and for other countries 10%.

Bonds held on to the previous session's gains after a Treasury official said the rule change could reduce interest costs for banks. The US dollar lost value slightly against other currencies.

🔹 XAUUSD: +0.6%

🔹 WTI: -0.21%

🔹 BTCUSD: -1.06%

🔹 Brent: -3.42%

Forex trader's takeaways:

🔹 Tariff concerns: U.S. - China trade tensions and tariff policies remain a major driver in the Forex market. Traders should watch closely for any updates that may impact USD/JPY, USD/CNH, and other currency pairs sensitive to trade policies.

🔹Market sentiment: Investor sentiment continues to be driven by uncertainty surrounding tariffs and trade negotiations. This creates volatility, offering potential trading opportunities in major currency pairs such as EUR/USD and GBP/USD.

🔹 U.S. Economic data: Retail sales and earnings reports will be crucial to market sentiment, potentially impacting the USD Index and influencing Forex market movements.

🔹 Gold and USD: The rise in gold prices may suggest that traders are seeking safe-haven assets, while the slight decline in the U.S. dollar may present an opportunity for trades in gold, EUR/USD, and other risk-off currencies.

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