Today's Edition
HONG KONG (AFP)
Markets edged up Tuesday after a largely positive day on Wall Street with investors eyeing a busy week of data and earnings releases that could provide clues about the effects of Donald Trump's trade policies.
A month that started with the explosion of the US president's Liberation Day tariffs on April 2 was on course for a somewhat calmer close as governments line up to cut deals to avert the full force of the measures.
But while there is a hope that the sweeping measures can be tempered before a 90-day stay of execution comes to an end in July, there appears to be little movement with the main focus of the levies -- China.
While uncertainty rules on trading floors, Asian markets pushed higher on Tuesday, with Hong Kong, Shanghai, Sydney, Seoul, Singapore, Taipei, Manila in positive territory. Tokyo was closed for a holiday.
Data this week could give an idea about the impact of Trump's measures on companies, with tech titans Amazon, Apple, Meta, and Microsoft all reporting their first-quarter earnings this week. Also on the agenda are key economic data, including jobs creation and the Federal Reserve's preferred gauge of inflation amid warnings the tariffs could reignite prices.
"While consumer and business survey data continue to plunge, the hard data has shown resilience, a trend likely to persist for a month or two until the effects of the Liberation tariffs become evident mid-year," said Tony Sycamore, a market analyst at IG.
"If President Trump's tariffs are reduced, weaker hard data will be looked through, allowing the US economy and stock markets to muddle through the end of the year."
However, he added that if tariffs stayed elevated, stock markets could resume their losses and the chances of a recession rose.
