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.

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, reversing most of the gains it made and falling 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 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.

TASI

12,124

+0.7% (YTD: +0.7%)

MSCI Tadawul 30

1,526

+0.9% (YTD: +1.1%)

NomuC

31,696

+0.4% (YTD: +0.7%)

USD : SAR (SAMA)

USD 3.75 Sell

USD 3.75 Buy

Interest rates

5.0% repo

4.5% reverse repo

EGX30

30,989

+0.4% (YTD: +4.2%)

ADX

9,560

-0.1% (YTD: +1.5%)

DFM

5,328

+0.2% (YTD: +3.3%)

S&P 500

5,896

-1.0% (YTD: +1.1%)

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: TADAWUL-

The TASI rose 0.7% yesterday on turnover of SAR 6.1 bn. The index is up 0.7% YTD.

In the green: Sisco Holding (+6.8%), Baan (+6.1%) and Al Baha (+5.3%).

In the red: Sal (-7.5%), Acwa Power (-5.6%) and Marafiq (-4.8%).

THE CLOSING BELL: NOMU-

The NomuC rose 0.4% yesterday on turnover of SAR 33.3 mn. The index is up 0.7% YTD.

In the green: Food Gate (+13.6%), Mulkia (+11.1%) and AlJouf Water (+9.9%).

In the red: Balady (-8.0%), Knowledgenet (-5.0%) and Gas (-4.6%).

CORPORATE ACTIONS-

Almasane Alkobra Mining’s (Amak) board greenlit the distribution of SAR 104.5 mn in dividends for 2H 2024 at SAR 1.18 per share, it said in a disclosure to Tadawul. Distribution is set to kick off on Sunday, 23 March, it said in a separate disclosure.

Shareholders of Gulf Union Cooperative Ins. (GUAI) will vote on the company’s 49.73% capital hike on Thursday, 27 March for its planned merger with Gulf General Ins. (GGI), according to a disclosure to Tadawul. The increase would bring GUAI’s total capital to SAR 687.2 mn by issuing some 22.8 mn new shares.

ICYMI- The group has recently lined up approval from the Ins. Authority to move forward with its plans to merge with GGI, after they inked a binding agreement back in December 2024. The agreement will see GGI transfer all of its shares, liabilities, and assets to GUAI.

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