Markus Andrews

Trump ally likens BBC host to a ‘kindergartener’ over tariffs before threatening to end interviewChina has announced it will impose a 34 per cent tariff on imports of all US products, starting next Thursday, matching the “Liberation Day” levy imposed by Donald Trump.Beijing’s commerce ministry also said it would impose more export controls on rare earth materials used in high-tech products such as computer chips and electric vehicle batteries.Britain’s FTSE 100 index fell 3.9 per cent to hit its lowest level since December on Friday, as Mr Trump’s new trade tariffs caused another day of intense turbulence on the global markets.Asia-Pacific markets opened in the red for a second day after S&P 500 companies lost a combined $2.4trn in stock market value overnight – the US index’s biggest one-day loss since the Covid pandemic in March 2020. After hitting an all-time high last month, the FTSE also fell for a second day in Friday morning trading, with Germany’s DAX index also tumbling 5 per cent and the Euronext 100 down 4.8 per cent.Mr Trump claimed to reporters on Thursday that “the markets are going to boom”, and insisted that Sir Keir Starmer was “very happy” with Washington’s new 10 per cent tariff on UK goods.Canada unemployment rises for first time since 2022Canada’s total employment fell and the unemployment rate rose in March, new official data showed, as the uncertainty around US tariffs and their subsequent implementation forced companies to pause hiring and spurred some layoffs. The country shed a net 32,600 jobs last month, in what marks the first decrease in more than three years. This was driven by a steep decline in full-time work, Statistics Canada said. The employment decline followed largely flat job growth in February and a robust gain of 211,000 new jobs from November to January. The unemployment rate rose to 6.7 per cent in March from 6.6 per cent a month earlier.“The wheels may be starting to fall off the Canadian labor market,” Andrew Grantham, senior economist at CIBC Capital Markets, wrote in a report. Analysts polled by Reuters had forecast a net job gain of 10,000 people and had estimated the unemployment rate to rise to 6.7 per cent.Andy Gregory4 April 2025 15:49US labour market shows resilience prior to Trump’s tariff announcementThe US economy added far more jobs than expected in March, prior to Donald Trump’s tariffs – which is likely to test the American labour market’s resilience in the months ahead.The US Labour Department’s closely watched employment report on Friday showed nonfarm payrolls – which excludes those in agriculture, private households, and not-for-profits – increased by 228,000 jobs last month, after a downwardly revised 117,000 rise in February.Economists polled by Reuters had forecast payrolls advancing by 135,000 jobs after a previously reported 151,000 rise in February. Estimates ranged from 50,000 to 185,000. Part of the rise in payrolls was a rebound after freezing temperatures curbed activity in January and February.“This is a drop of good news in a sea of uncertainty, a footnote given the barrage of activities this week,” said Olu Sonola, head of US economic research at Fitch Ratings. “However, this is looking in the rear-view mirror, next month’s jobs report will be more consequential.”Andy Gregory4 April 2025 15:35‘Like an operation performed without anaesthesia’Donald Trump has said Americans may feel “some pain” because of tariffs, but he has also said the long-term goals – including getting more manufacturing jobs back to the United States – are worth it. On Thursday, he likened the situation to a medical operation, where the US economy is the patient.“For investors looking at their portfolios, it could have felt like an operation performed without anaesthesia,” Brian Jacobsen, chief economist at Annex Wealth Management, told Reuters.But Jacobsen also said the next surprise for investors could be how quickly tariffs get negotiated down. “The speed of recovery will depend on how, and how quickly, officials negotiate,” he said.Andy Gregory4 April 2025 15:15Nasdaq enters ‘bear market’ territoryAfter opening 3 per cent lower today, the tech-heavy Nasdaq has dropped more than 20 per cent from its all-time closing high touched in December – putting it on course to confirm a bear market. Andy Gregory4 April 2025 14:48Trump says China ‘played it wrong’ in retaliation against US tariffsDonald Trump has claimed that China “played it wrong” after Beijing retaliated against new US tariffs, unveiling countermeasures that included additional duties of 34 per cent on all US goods. “China played it wrong, they panicked – the one thing they cannot afford to do!” Mr Trump wrote in all caps in post on his social media platform.Earlier, the US president wrote, also in all caps: “To the many investors coming into the United States and investing massive amounts of money, my policies will never change. This is a great time to get rich, richer than ever before!!!”US President Donald Trump signed an executive order giving TikTok an extension until April 5 (Niall Carson/PA) More