Departure of Trump Adviser Sends Global Stocks Lower

Most global stocks which traded down by the beginning of the week are still mostly bearish by the second half the week. This was due to the announcement that the adviser of U.S. President Donald Trump had left the White House and his post as an economic adviser. This pushed stocks lower which has been at a negative position at the beginning of the week. Earlier, Trump has announced plans to impose stiff tariffs on steel and aluminum imports.

Wall Street Shares

From starting the week at a negative note, U.S. stocks slightly recovered on Tuesday before paring gains again on Wednesday. This was as investors digested news of the import tariffs as well as the recent resignation of Gary Cohn from being one of Trump’s main advisors.

The markets became volatile on Wednesday despite the possibility of Mexico and Canada being exempted from the said tariffs. This was mostly due to growing concerns regarding a possible trade war which will get worse following Cohn’s absence from the White House. Cohn is known for being a free trade supporter and has been known to be one of the main supporters of policies that are favorable to businesses.

The Dow Jones more than 200 points following news of Cohn’s resignation. The DJIA have previously lost around 80 points earlier during the week was was last down by around 0.33%. Boeing and General Motor shares have lost ground on news of the possible tariffs on the said metal products.

The S&P 500 also edged lower during Wednesday’s trading session. The index was down by as much as 0.97%. The Nasdaq Composite, on the other hand, gained 0.33% to 7,396.65. Tech shares gained during the last trading session led by the rally in Alphabet and Facebook shares.

Stocks Outside U.S.

Shares in Asia edged lower on Wednesday due to the similar reason most shares in Wall Street fell. The Nikkei 225 in Japan was down by around 0.5% to 21,314.49 while South Korea’s Kospi rose 0.1% higher to 2,414.58 along with the Shanghai Composite Index which added 0.1% to 3,294.66. The Hang Seng index in Hong Kong dipped 0.4% to 30,403.04. 

However, Asian shares slightly recovered as the concerns regarding the tariffs from Trump’s administration by Thursday. Stocks gained most of their losses in relation to concerns of a trade war with U.S. stocks trading slightly above its previous session lows. 

European shares also traded lower along with U.S. and Asian stocks during the same trading session. The pan-European Stoxx 600 edged 0.4% lower while the Dax index in Germany was down by 0.5%.

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