Morning Bid: Trump tariff volleys met with caution, not chaos
A look at the day ahead in European and global markets from Kevin Buckland
President Donald Trump may have sent metals traders scampering overnight with his threat of a 50% duty on copper imports, but the overall market reaction to his ever-shifting tariff landscape has been calm and cautious, while certainly not chaotic like what greeted his steep "Liberation Day" reciprocal tariffs a little over three months ago.
With the deadline for deals with many major trading partners now moved to August 1, giving an additional three-week buffer to the original three-month extension that ends today, there is a belief the new date might also be a flexible target.
Trump said overnight there will be "no more extensions", but that's after he earlier called August 1 "firm, but not 100% firm." Either way, the U.S. dealmaker-in-chief continues to say he's open to offers.
European stock futures are pointing slightly higher, in contrast to signs of continued - if slight - weakness on Wall Street for today.
Equity markets around Asia are broadly mixed, and have a lot to do with local factors, like the weak yen limiting losses for Japan's Nikkei and the policy hopes lifting South Korea's KOSPI, while Australian equities sag following the central bank's shock decision not to cut rates on Tuesday.
Copper is being pulled in two directions, with U.S. futures soaring to an all-time peak overnight, but London and Shanghai futures sinking with little time to ship the red metal stateside before the new tariff rate likely kicks in at the end of this month.
Trump also threatened a 200% levy on drugs, but said he's giving a year or more for pharma companies to prepare.
One of the few assets showing a clear direction right now is the dollar, which pushed to fresh multi-week highs against the yen today while making gains versus the bulk of its rivals.
A bare calendar of top-tier macro or corporate events in Europe today keeps the focus on Washington's trade negotiations with Brussels, which, despite being close to some kind of framework understanding, are still tentative enough to have Trump saying he's drafting a tariff letter.
Key developments that could influence markets on Wednesday:
-ECB board member Luis de Guindos speaks in El Escorial, Spain
-ECB board member Philip Lane speaks in Brussels
-BoE publishes bi-annual Financial Stability Report
-Fed releases minutes of June meeting
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(Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)
