Market Commentary: Wednesday 9th April

Good morning, and welcome to another round of “don’t check your investment portfolios.”

Treasuries are down, and Asian stocks have sunk to their lowest level since January 2024, as tariffs on China have been hiked to a 100-year high.

The USD is also down, European index futures are down 4.4%, and US stocks have fallen more than 2.5%.

Oil has also sunk to a fresh four-year low—but at least gold is performing well, rallying roughly $50 overnight and now sitting at $3,025.

The trade war has sparked growing concern that something may break in the "financial plumbing," as volatility and stress continue to build in the markets.

This also puts the Fed in a tough position, as the need to cut interest rates conflicts with inflation concerns already driven by tariffs.

Cryptos are also down but have held up better than most other markets:

• Bitcoin down 0.6% to $76,621.02

• Ether down 1.6% to $1,457.02

The FOMC Meeting Minutes are the main data point on today’s horizon.

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