Wall Street faces worst day of 2025 yet: US stocks had their worst day so far this year after US President Donald Trump confirmed that a 25% levy on Mexico and Canada would go into effect today. The S&P 500 fell nearly 2%, while a tech stock sell-off pushed the Nasdaq down 2.2%, with chipmaker Nvidia losing some 10%. The Dow Jones was not spared, losing 1.5%, not helped by data showing that manufacturing activity eased in the country in February.

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What happened? Trump confirmed the levies would take place, along with an extra 10% duty on Chinese imports, despite expectations of another potential delay. Trump also confirmed wider “reciprocal” tariffs were coming in April.

BTC also had a bad day: Despite rising the previous day after Trump’s announcement of plans for a BTC strategic reserve, BTC reversed most of the gains yesterday and fell as much as 9% to around USD 85k.

Analysts and traders are not optimistic: Demand for US stocks is likely not high enough to sustain a rebound, a Goldman Sachs analyst said, while JP Morgan strategists also see US tech stocks continuing to face sell-offs amid uncertain economic growth and tariffs, Bloomberg reports. BCA Research downgraded their recommendation for US equities to underweight from neutral, while upgrading European stocks to overweight.

Set to benefit are value-dominated stocks in international markets and tariff-safe emerging market assets. While Wall Street faced a rout, European stocks hit fresh highs yesterday, propped up by a rally in defense stocks after plans were revealed that the EU will be spending hundreds of bns of USD on defense financing for Ukraine.

MARKETS THIS MORNING-

Asian stocks were also impacted by Trump’s tariff announcement, with Japanese stocks falling more than 2%, led by declines in Japanese tech players amid a widening risk-off sentiment as trade war fears grow. South Korea’s Kospi was also down 0.13%, and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng started the day down 1.58%. Meanwhile, mainland China’s CSI 300 index dipped 0.59%.

Over on Wall Street, futures are up slightly as investors brace for the full impact of the implementation of the tariffs.

EGX30

30,989

+0.4% (YTD: +4.2%)

USD (CBE)

Buy 50.59

Sell 50.72

USD (CIB)

Buy 50.60

Sell 50.70

Interest rates (CBE)

27.25% deposit

28.25% lending

Tadawul

12,124

+0.7% (YTD: +0.7%)

ADX

9,560

-0.1% (YTD: +1.5%)

DFM

5,328

+0.2% (YTD: +3.3%)

S&P 500

5,850

-1.7% (YTD: -0.5%)

FTSE 100

8,871

+0.7% (YTD: +8.5%)

Euro Stoxx 50

5,541

+1.4% (YTD: +13.2%)

Brent crude

USD 71.57

-1.7%

Natural gas (Nymex)

USD 4.12

+7.5%

Gold

USD 2,901

+1.9%

BTC

USD 86,297

-8.5% (YTD: -7.8%)

THE CLOSING BELL-

The EGX30 rose 0.4% at yesterday’s close on turnover of EGP 3.6 bn (1.2% above the 90-day average). Local investors were the sole net buyers. The index is up 4.2% YTD.

In the green: Abu Qir Fertilizers (+3.8%), Ibnsina Pharma (+3.8%), and Emaar Misr (+2.5%).

In the red: Egypt Kuwait Holding -USD (-2.2%), Qalaa Holdings (-1.7%), and ADIB (-1.4%).

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