Stock futures dip, U.S. dollar gains on Trump tariffs

The Canadian dollar weakened after Trump said he will impose 35% on some goods from the country. Gold rose for a third day as investors sought haven assets. Asian equities pared their earlier gains to trade flat Friday.

“The latest news of a higher tariff rate on Canada and potentially others as well has seen risk getting pared back,” said Khoon Goh, head of Asia research at Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd. “We are likely to see more risk aversion across Asia as investors pare back their positions ahead of the weekend, to avoid any whiplash that could occur next week on further tariff news over the next couple of days.”

Tariff tensions have increased recently as Trump pushed ahead with his plans to impose levies on various trading partners in a bid to remake the global trade, which he says wasn’t favourable to the U.S. Even so, investors have been piling back into stocks – the S&P 500 closed at a record Thursday – in a sign investors are shifting their focus from concerns about lower growth and higher inflation to prepare for the upcoming earnings season.

The levy on Canada is a blow to Prime Minister Mark Carney’s bid to avoid punishing levies on goods sold to the U.S. The tariff level would take effect from Aug. 1.

The announced rate is an increase from the current 25% levy on Canadian imports not covered by the trade deal negotiated between the U.S., Canada and Mexico, which do not face additional tariffs. That exclusion would remain unchanged, according to an official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the matter.

“Markets are likely to be concerned about further escalations given that Canada has retaliated before,” said Fiona Lim, a senior strategist at Malayan Banking Bhd in Singapore. “Given that U.S. dollar has fallen substantially in the first half of the year, we could be seeing some unwinding of short US dollar positions amid intermittent tariff announcements.”

Trump’s moves signal no retreat from his flagship economic policy, with the president noting to NBC the recent rise in U.S. equity markets. The president has spent the week sending missives to trading partners, informing them of new rates that will kick in on Aug. 1 if they cannot negotiate better terms. Letters to members of the European Union are also expected shortly.

Separately, Hong Kong authorities intervened for the fourth time in two weeks to prevent the city’s currency from weakening beyond its official trading band.

In Asian corporate news, Nissan Motor Co. raised $4.5 billion from a junk-bond sale in U.S. dollar and euros. The embattled automaker is offering a record-high coupon on at least one part of the deal to drum up demand.

Elsewhere, JPMorgan Chase & Co. is considering cutting the weight of bond issuers in its emerging-market index — including China and India — as it seeks to reflect a broader range of developing-nation debt.

Some of the main moves in markets:

Stocks

• S&P 500 futures fell 0.2% as of 9:19 a.m. Tokyo time
• Hang Seng futures were little changed
• Japan’s Topix rose 0.6%
• Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 was little changed
• Euro Stoxx 50 futures were little changed

Currencies

• The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changed
• The euro fell 0.1% to $1.1685
• The Japanese yen was little changed at 146.30 per dollar
• The offshore yuan was little changed at 7.1816 per dollar

Cryptocurrencies

• Bitcoin rose 1.7% to $115,471.7
• Ether rose 3.5% to $2,919.51

Bonds

• The yield on 10-year Treasuries was little changed at 4.34%
• Japan’s 10-year yield was little changed at 1.495%
• Australia’s 10-year yield advanced three basis points to 4.32%

Commodities

• West Texas Intermediate crude rose 0.4% to $66.85 a barrel
• Spot gold was little changed