Diogenes-Light: Trump's tariffs hammer markets

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Daily Briefing

By Kate Turton

Hello. Trump's tariff 'medicine' hammers markets as major stock indexes in Asia sink and European bank shares extend losses. Follow our live coverage.

Elsewhere, Netanyahu heads to Washington, US House Republicans look to move ahead on tax cuts, and Iran-backed militias in Iraq are ready to disarm to avert Trump's wrath.

Business & Markets

US President Donald Trump warned foreign governments they would have to pay "a lot of money" to lift sweeping tariffs, characterizing the duties as "medicine" and triggering further carnage across global financial markets. China called the tariffs 'bullying' and urged others to continue with consultation.
The bruising blast of tariffs last week has thrown emerging market central banks a fresh curve ball with many now forced to make the tough choice between supporting economic activity and keeping fragile currencies stable.
Some hedge funds say they are offloading all or most of their holdings of stocks as Trump's trade war wipes out trillions of dollars of market value. Bill Ackman said the US president was losing the confidence of business leaders. Listen as Carmel Crimmins tells the Reuters World News podcast how investors are panicking about the risk of recession.
Chancellor-in-waiting Friedrich Merz called for swift action to secure Germany's competitiveness in response to sliding stock and bond markets. Also in Europe, an index of European banking shares fell 4.8%, falling more than 20% from recent closing high and leaving it on course to confirm it is in a bear market.
US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell indicated this is not the moment for a "Fed put" - Wall Street's term for actions to shore up free-falling stock markets - even as household wealth evaporates with real risks to economic activity.
JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon cautioned investors that the turmoil caused by US tariffs and a global trade war could slow growth, spur inflation and potentially lead to lasting negative consequences. Elsewhere, Goldman Sachs has raised the odds of a US recession to 45% in the next 12 months, joining other investment banks in revising their forecast.
Oil prices slid more than 3%, extending last week's losses, as escalating trade tensions between the US and China stoked fears of a recession that would reduce demand for crude.
Britain softened demands on automakers to switch to production of electric vehicles, seeking to alleviate pressure on an industry left reeling from US tariffs. Meanwhile, British house prices unexpectedly fell in March.

In Other News

The US Capitol building is seen in Washington. REUTERS/Elizabeth Frantz/File Photo

United States

Top Republicans in the House of Representatives plan to move forward on Trump's tax cuts, but their caucus is divided with some members concerned that there are insufficient spending cuts in the budget blueprint passed by the Senate.
A second child with measles has died in Texas in an outbreak of the childhood disease that has resulted in nearly 500 cases in Texas and has spread across 22 states.
US Attorney General Pam Bondi said a Justice Department attorney had been placed on leave after he failed to vigorously defend the government's handling of a man erroneously deported to El Salvador in what a US judge called a "wholly lawless" detention.
Thousands of protesters gathered across the US on Saturday, part of some 1,200 demonstrations that were expected to form the largest single day of protest against Trump and his billionaire ally Elon Musk. View our gallery of signs at the anti-Trump Hands Off! protests.
A fight is brewing over the ability of federal judges to issue "universal" injunctions. Top lawyers for Trump, and his predecessor Joe Biden, separately urged the US Supreme Court to limit the authority of judges to issue nationwide injunctions that can stop a government policy in its tracks.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he hopes President Trump will ease tariffs imposed on Israel when the two meet in Washington this week.
The Israeli military has provided new details that changed its initial account of the killing of 15 emergency workers near the southern Gaza city of Rafah last month, but said investigators were still examining the evidence.

Iran-backed militias in Iraq ready to disarm to avert Trump wrath

A vehicle carries the coffin of a commander from Iraq's Kataib Hezbollah armed group. Baghdad, September 22, 2024. REUTERS/Thaier Al-Sudani

Several powerful Iranian-backed militia groups in Iraq are prepared to disarm for the first time to avert the threat of an escalating conflict with the US Trump administration, 10 senior commanders and Iraqi officials told Reuters.

The move to defuse tensions follows repeated warnings issued privately by US officials to the Iraqi government since Trump took power in January, according to the sources who include six local commanders of four major militias.

Read our exclusive

And Finally...

Advocates gathered to make their case to reverse the flight of production to other states. REUTERS/MIKE BLAKE/File Photo

Hundreds of Hollywood crew members, producers and actors urged California legislators to increase tax incentives and enact other measures to encourage more film and TV production in and around Los Angeles.

Read more

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