Trade Secrets

WTF Dailies July 4, 2025

President Trump said on Thursday that Washington will begin issuing formal letters to major economies outlining new U.S. export tariff rates as early as Friday.

Sage Kakkat

03 Jul 2025 — 4 min read

U.S. S&P 500 futures edged down 0.2%, following a 0.8% overnight advance for the cash index to a fresh all-time closing peak. Wall Street is closed Friday for Independence Day.
Most Asian equity markets struggled on Friday, despite record highs for Wall Street overnight, as U.S. President Donald Trump's deadline for trade deals loomed next week.
President Trump said on Thursday that Washington will begin issuing formal letters to major economies outlining new U.S. export tariff rates as early as Friday. He said the U.S. will forgo lengthy negotiations with over 170 countries and instead unilaterally impose flat tariff rates ranging between 20% and 30%. The letters will reportedly be sent to 10 countries at a time. So far, the U.S. has signed trade deals only with the UK and Vietnam, and a limited framework with China, falling far short of Trump’s previous pledge to secure 90 deals in 90 days.
Markets interpreted this as a return to a more aggressive, protectionist stance that could disrupt global supply chains and weigh on export-driven economies, many of which are in Asia.
The dollar retraced some of Thursday's gains with U.S. markets already shut for the week, as traders considered the impact of the sweeping spending bill Trump is about to sign into law.
Japan's Nikkei rose 0.3% as of 0152 GMT after flipping between gains and losses in early trading.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng slumped 1.3%, while mainland Chinese blue chips edged slightly lower.
Taiwan's equity benchmark shed early gains to decline 0.2%. South Korea's KOSPI sank more than 1%.
South Korea’s KOSPI led losses with a 1.6% slump, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index dropped 1.2%. Both markets saw broad-based losses on Friday, with chip stocks and auto shares leading losses.
China’s Shanghai Composite index and the Shanghai Shenzhen CSI 300 both gained 0.2%.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 was largely unchanged, while the broader TOPIX index fell 0.2%.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 index inched 0.2% higher, while Singapore’s Straits Times Index lost 0.3%.
Indian equity benchmark indices, opened in green on Friday. While Nifty50 was above 25,400, BSE Sensex was up over 50 points. At 9:19 AM, Nifty50 was trading at 25,413.90, up 9 points or 0.034%. BSE Sensex was at 83,302.76, up 63 points or 0.076%. Market analysts anticipate continued consolidation, suggesting investors will likely maintain a cautious stance as they monitor ongoing trade talks and upcoming US economic indicators.

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