(10 MAY 2019)DAILY MARKET BRIEF 1:Rollercoaster week as trade talks take centre stage
Investors needed nerves of steel throughout the week as Donald Trump’s tweet sent financial markets up and down in rocky trading sessions. The VIX index, which is broadly viewed as a fear measure, spiked as high as 23.4 compared to 13 last Friday as global equities collapsed to multi-month lows. On Friday, President Trump carried out his threats and raised tariffs on $200 billion of tariff goods. At the same time, he said that President Xi Jinping wrote him a “beautiful letter”, suggesting that China was ready to make some concessions and to finally move forwards with the trade deal. The Donald concluded by saying that he has “no idea what’s going to happen.”
On Friday morning, investors were cautiously optimistic that the situation would ease before the weekend. Equities were mostly blinking green across the screens, while in the FX market, safe haven currencies gave up previous gains. Emerging market currencies were also better bid with the TRY, HUF and THB up 1%, 0.33% and 0.65% respectively. Unfortunately, according to a statement release on Friday, the Chinese government will have no choice but to “take necessary countermeasures.” Friday trading would most likely be as chaotic as the ones from the rest of the week. Trump would most likely drop another angry/enthusiastic tweet on Sunday; therefore, investors should make sure to avoid carry positions over the weekend. Happy trading.
