Widespread selloff hits stocks as Trump's threats over Greenland unnerve investors
NEW YORK/PARIS, Jan 20 : A widespread selloff spread across equities on Wall Street, Europe and Asia on Tuesday following market volatility stirred by U.S. President Donald Trump's threats to reignite a trade war with Europe over Greenland.
Trump said he no longer thought "purely of peace" after he did not win the Nobel Peace Prize and reiterated a threat to increase tariffs on EU members Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Sweden, and the Netherlands, along with Britain and Norway, until the U.S. is allowed to buy Greenland.
The threat reignited the "Sell America" trade that had emerged after Trump's "Liberation Day" levies announced last April.
EU leaders will discuss possible responses, including tariffs worth 93 billion euros ($109 billion) on U.S. imports, at an emergency summit in Brussels on Thursday.
"The geopolitical risks that we've been talking about for a long time are re-emerging and are shifting market perceptions of common alliances across allies in Europe," said Wasif Latif, chief investment officer at Sarmaya Partners in New Jersey.
"That is coupled with what's going on in Japan with the JGB yields continuing to rise and the market caught asleep at the wheel on that risk that's out there. So it's all coming together for a pretty significant risk-off day."
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1.76 per cent, the S&P 500 fell 2.06 per cent and the Nasdaq Composite fell 2.39 per cent. The indexes notched their biggest daily loss since October 10 while Wall Street's most-watched gauge of investor anxiety, the Cboe Volatility Index, jumped to an eight-week high of 20.99.
Europe's STOXX 600 fell 0.7 per cent on the day, having already fallen 1.2 per cent on Monday, while the MSCI World Equity Index was down 1.39 per cent. The FTSE 100 fell 0.67 per cent.
Overnight in Asia, MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan closed 0.55 per cent lower, while Japan's Nikkei fell 1.11 per cent. Japanese government bonds (JGBs) plunged, sending yields to record highs, after Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's calling of a snap election shook confidence in the country's fiscal health.
"But we have to take all this with a grain of salt because what we've seen in prior times is that we get a risk-off and a selloff like this and the Trump administration and the powers that be walk things back and calm things down," Latif added.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told reporters in Davos on Tuesday that he was confident the U.S. and European countries would find a solution over the Trump administration's aim to take over Greenland, brushing off "hysteria" about a possible trade war.
TARIFFS THREATENED ON FRENCH WINES AND CHAMPAGNE
Trump separately threatened to hit French wines and champagne with 200 per cent tariffs, in an apparent effort to cajole French President Emmanuel Macron to join his Board of Peace initiative.
Amelie Derambure, senior multi-asset portfolio manager at Amundi in Paris, said that the downward move in markets was "precautionary profit-taking and some risk reduction," but that markets were helped by the macroeconomic backdrop.
The euro was up 0.65 per cent against the dollar at $1.1721, having earlier hit its highest since January 2. The Japanese yen strengthened 0.07 per cent against the greenback to 158.18 per dollar. The dollar index was down 0.52 per cent at 98.58 and heading for its second day of declines.
U.S. Treasury yields rose in early trading to their highest since September. U.S. markets were closed on Monday for a public holiday, so the move was a delayed reaction to developments that began over the weekend.
The yield on benchmark U.S. 10-year notes rose 6.3 basis points to 4.295 per cent. The yield curve between 2-year and 10-year U.S. Treasuries, and between 10-year and 30-year U.S. Treasuries, steepened by the most since October.
The yield on the benchmark German 10-year Bunds fell 0.4 basis points to 2.858 per cent.
Oil prices edged higher, with Brent crude futures settling up 1.53 per cent at $64.92 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate settled up 1.51 per cent at $60.34 a barrel.
Gold hit a record high, rising above $4,700 an ounce. It was last up 1.89 per cent at $4,757.78 an ounce.
Spot silver slipped 0.18 per cent to $94.51 an ounce, after hitting a record $95.87.
($1 = 0.8535 euros)
