The mood in the markets is beginning to shift as focus moves to Trump's new tariffs which are starting to get set in large numbers country by country, creating a more risk-off environment.
Markets are shifting focus back to Trump's tariffs as the original July deadline for trade deals arrives this week, although Commerce Secretary Lutnick is now saying the final deadline will be pushed back to 1st August. President Trump announced that tariff letters will begin going out today to many countries whose tariff rates he is ready to set, while making it clear there are ongoing negotiations which could last until August.
In a related move, President Trump has threatened to impose an extra 10% tariff on any country which "aligns with the anti-American policies of the BRICS nations". Beyond the usual suspects, this is clearly a threat towards Egypt, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
Stock markets are giving up some of their recent gains, but in the US market the losses so far are only very slight.
The US Dollar Index has continued to rise, while the Australian Dollar is currently the weakest major currency since today's weekly open, putting
the AUD/USD currency pairin focus and reflecting clearly the deterioration of risk sentiment.. Trend and momentum traders will be interested in considering whether to be long of t
he EUR/USD currency pair, which recently made a new long-term high above $1.1800 and is trading very close to that round number.
- Silver
traded as high as $37.21 per ounce during the Asian session, just 8 cents shy of its long-term high price. However, the precious and industrial metal has turned bearish since and is making a pretty firm bearish retracement.
It is likely to be a relatively quiet day in the markets today as it is a Monday and there are no high-impact scheduled data releases..