UK investors loaded up on US stocks prior to Trump tariff turmoil, data shows
LONDON (Reuters) - British investors piled into U.S. stocks in the weeks leading up to President Donald Trump's announcement of a barrage of trade tariffs last week that sent stocks tanking, funds network Calastone said on Tuesday.
North American equities - comprising mainly of U.S.-focused funds - netted 1.8 billion pounds ($2.3 billion) of inflows from UK investors in March, their third-best month in the 10-year data set, as investors tried to "buy the dip" following a weak start to the year for U.S. shares, Calastone said.
A seasonal shift into stocks in the UK every March - to take advantage of tax breaks ahead of the end of the UK's tax year on April 5 - also helped fuel the buying.
"The strong appetite for US equities in March is at odds with tidal forces in global markets that are seeing a strong rotation out of US assets and into markets like Europe and the UK," said Edward Glyn, head of global markets at Calastone.
U.S. stocks were already down year-to-date prior to Trump's tariff announcement last Wednesday, but those declines turned into a dramatic drop in subsequent days as investors dumped equities.
Stock market downturns have increasingly attracted retail investors looking to "buy the dip". Retail investors bought $4.7 billion in stocks last Thursday, the highest level over the past decade, JPMorgan said in a note on Friday.
Trading volumes both in and out of U.S. stocks were much larger than usual in March, Calastone said, suggesting disagreement among investors over prospects for the U.S. market, which has outperformed rivals in recent years.
Equity funds overall saw net inflows from UK investors of 1.4 billion pounds in March, despite investors pulling a net 1.2 billion pounds from UK equities, according to Calastone's data.
Investors also withdrew a net 700 million pounds from bond funds in the month, while safe-haven money market funds attracted 513 million pounds of new cash.
($1 = 0.7813 pounds)
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
CNBC
11 minutes ago
- CNBC
Trump tariffs may remain in effect while appeals proceed, U.S. appeals court rules
A federal appeals court allowed President Donald Trump's most sweeping tariffs to remain in effect on Tuesday while it reviews a lower court decision blocking them on grounds that Trump had exceeded his authority by imposing them. The decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington, D.C. means Trump may continue to enforce, for now, his "Liberation Day" tariffs on imports from most U.S. trading partners, as well as a separate set of tariffs levied on Canada, China and Mexico. The appeals court has yet to rule on whether the tariffs are permissible under an emergency economic powers act that Trump cited to justify them, but it allowed the tariffs to remain in place while the appeals play out. The Federal Circuit said the litigation raised issues of "exceptional importance" warranting the court to take the rare step of having the 11-member court hear the appeal, rather than have it go before a three-judge panel first. It scheduled arguments for July 31. The tariffs, used by Trump as negotiating leverage with U.S. trading partners, and their on-again, off-again nature have shocked markets and whipsawed companies of all sizes as they seek to manage supply chains, production, staffing and prices. The ruling has no impact on other tariffs levied under more traditional legal authority, such as tariffs on steel and aluminum imports. A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of International Trade ruled on May 28 that the U.S. Constitution gave Congress, not the president, the power to levy taxes and tariffs, and that the president had exceeded his authority by invoking the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, a law intended to address "unusual and extraordinary" threats during national emergencies. The Trump administration quickly appealed the ruling, and the Federal Circuit in Washington put the lower court decision on hold the next day while it considered whether to impose a longer-term pause. The ruling came in a pair of lawsuits, one filed by the nonpartisan Liberty Justice Center on behalf of five small U.S. businesses that import goods from countries targeted by the duties and the other by 12 U.S. states. Trump has claimed broad authority to set tariffs under IEEPA. The 1977 law has historically been used to impose sanctions on enemies of the U.S. or freeze their assets. Trump is the first U.S. president to use it to impose tariffs. Trump has said that the tariffs imposed in February on Canada, China and Mexico were to fight illegal fentanyl trafficking at U.S. borders, denied by the three countries, and that the across-the-board tariffs on all U.S. trading partners imposed in April were a response to the U.S. trade deficit. The states and small businesses had argued the tariffs were not a legal or appropriate way to address those matters, and the small businesses argued that the decades-long U.S. practice of buying more goods than it exports does not qualify as an emergency that would trigger IEEPA. At least five other court cases have challenged the tariffs justified under the emergency economic powers act, including other small businesses and the state of California. One of those cases, in federal court in Washington, D.C., also resulted in an initial ruling against the tariffs, and no court has yet backed the unlimited emergency tariff authority Trump has claimed.
CNN
13 minutes ago
- CNN
Trump's most sweeping tariffs can remain in place for now, appeals court rules
President Donald Trump's heftiest tariffs cleared a court hurdle for now, after a federal appeals court ruled Tuesday that they could take effect while legal challenges play out. The decision came after the Trump administration appealed the Court of International Trade's ruling finding the president exceeded his authority to impose country-wide tariffs claiming a national emergency. 'Both sides have made substantial arguments on the merits. Having considered the traditional stay factors… the court concludes a stay is warranted under the circumstances,' according to the ruling. The stay is pending the course of the appeal, the court wrote, adding that the case will be heard on a sped-up basis by the full panel of judges at the court. 'The court also concludes that these cases present issues of exceptional importance warranting expedited en banc consideration of the merits in the first instance,' the order said. The appeals court ruling, however, has no bearing on the sector-wide tariffs Trump previously enacted, including those on aluminum, steel, cars and car parts. That's because he imposed those levies under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act – a different law than the one Trump cited for his broader trade actions. Section 232 gives a president significant power to levy tariffs on specific sectors if they believe there is a national security threat risk. This is a developing story and will be updated.
CNN
13 minutes ago
- CNN
Trump's most sweeping tariffs can remain in place for now, appeals court rules
President Donald Trump's heftiest tariffs cleared a court hurdle for now, after a federal appeals court ruled Tuesday that they could take effect while legal challenges play out. The decision came after the Trump administration appealed the Court of International Trade's ruling finding the president exceeded his authority to impose country-wide tariffs claiming a national emergency. 'Both sides have made substantial arguments on the merits. Having considered the traditional stay factors… the court concludes a stay is warranted under the circumstances,' according to the ruling. The stay is pending the course of the appeal, the court wrote, adding that the case will be heard on a sped-up basis by the full panel of judges at the court. 'The court also concludes that these cases present issues of exceptional importance warranting expedited en banc consideration of the merits in the first instance,' the order said. The appeals court ruling, however, has no bearing on the sector-wide tariffs Trump previously enacted, including those on aluminum, steel, cars and car parts. That's because he imposed those levies under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act – a different law than the one Trump cited for his broader trade actions. Section 232 gives a president significant power to levy tariffs on specific sectors if they believe there is a national security threat risk. This is a developing story and will be updated.
