investingLive Americas market news wrap: Trump lobs a hand grenade

[Forex News]

• Trump: Will need to raise tariffs on China goods coming into the US
• The BLS will release the September CPI report on Friday, October 24 at 8:30 AM ET
• October UMich US consumer sentiment 55.0 vs 54.2 prelim
• Canada September employment +60.4K vs +5.0K expected
• Fed's Musalem: Feds goals are in tension
• Baker Hughes Oil rigs -4 at 418
• OMB Director says the layoffs have begun
• Fed's Waller: The interview for Fed chair was great
• The list for Fed Chair candidates has been narrowed down to 5

Markets:

• Gold up $38 to $4012
• US 10-year yields down 9.3 bps to 4.055%
• WTI crude oil down $2.70 to $58.81
• Bitcoin down $4224 to $116,950
• S&P 500 down 2.7%
• JPY leads, AUD lags

It was looking like a quiet end to the week early in the day. Canadian employment data was strong and that led to a nice rally in the loonie with USD/CAD falling to 1.3985 from 1.4015. Crude was also under pressure and flirting with $60 on worries about a supply glut.

The UMich data underscored improving US consumer sentiment though it was hardly a shocking jump in the month. it looks liked we might limp to the weekend but then Trump tossed gasoline on the embers with a long-winded message accusing China of rare earth export controls and threatening fresh tariffs.

That completely shattered the calm in markets and it was straight-away selling in equities, leading to the worst day since April 4 and the peak of Liberation Day. There is plenty of chatter that this will be another TACO trade but it might get worse before it gets better. Stock markets closed on the lows.

The yen unwound some of its weakness on the headlines and that was further helped by a coalition partner of Takaichi's new government pulling the plug. That may mean that she never becomes PM at all, though we will be watching closely to see what happens next. The bulk of the move certainly came on Trump though and it led to a drop to 151.60 in USD/JPY from 152.60 before the headlines.

The US dollar was softer against the euro and pound after the news, reversing yesterday's moves. However it was the Australian dollar that was hit hardest on global growth worries. AUD/USD fell to the lowest since August 26 in a 71 pip decline. Overall the FX moves weren't too big given that tariffs are both USD-negative and risk-negative, cancelling each other out to some degree.

Treasury yields fell notably and that was helped along by a drop in WTI crude below $59 in a worsening selloff after Trump's message. The market is now pricing in 109 bps in the year ahead, up from 100 bps at the start of the week.

This could be an interesting weekend with eyes on France, the US and Japan.

This article was written by Adam Button at investinglive.com.

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