Oil and stock markets plunge after Trump's tariffs rattle investors
Oil and global stocks dropped on Thursday, as markets were rattled by US President Donald Trump's sweeping tariffs announced on Wednesday, expected to upend global trade. Brent, the benchmark for two thirds of the world's oil, was down 2.24 per cent at $73.27 a barrel at 7.15am UAE time on Thursday. West Texas Intermediate, the gauge that tracks US crude, was 2.43 per cent lower at $69.97 a barrel. Asian stocks also fell sharply on Monday, with Japan's Nikkei 225 index plunging by about 4.6 per cent in early trading to hit its lowest in about eight months, before recovering slightly later in the day. Mr Trump announced a higher-than-anticipated 24 per cent tariff on Japanese goods. Meanwhile, South Korea's benchmark Kospi index was also down about 1.08 per cent, Hong Kong's Hang Seng index was 1.64 per cent lower, the Shanghai Composite index was 0.36 per cent lower at 7.25am UAE time. US stock futures were also down on Thursday, with the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq futures down 2.77 per cent and 3.3 per cent, respectively. 'Companies that make up the S&P 500 generate about 40 per cent of their revenue outside of the United States. This leaves Wall Street exposed to potential trade wars that hamper the free flow of goods and services,' said Zain Vawda, market analyst at Oanda. 'S&P 500 technology companies such as Apple, Microsoft and Nvidia rely on non-US markets for over half their sales. Given the poor performance by some of them so far in 2025, caution appears to be the only game in town.' Mr Trump announced sweeping tariffs on US trading partners on Wednesday, as world leaders prepared to impose retaliatory actions, setting the stage for possible trade wars that could affect global economic growth. The minimum 10 per cent tariffs on all imports were established through an executive order with Mr Trump saying the action will be imposed on 'friend and foe alike' because, 'in many cases, the friend is worse than the foe in terms of trade'. China and Vietnam were the targets of some of the harshest tariffs, at 34 per cent and 46 per cent. India will be hit with a 26 per cent tariff while the EU will receive a 20 per cent levy. Pakistan (29 per cent), Israel (17 per cent) and the UK (10 per cent) were also on a list of more than a dozen countries hit by the tariffs. Mr Trump also announced a minimum baseline tariff of 10 per cent for remaining countries, with rates going even higher for countries deemed the 'worst offenders'.
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