European Stocks Set to Halt Four Days of Losses: Markets Wrap

For his part, Trump tried to damp concerns of a recession in the US economy.

“I don’t see it at all. I think this country’s going to boom,” he said at the White House. He added that markets “are going to go up and they’re going to go down. But you know what, we have to rebuild our country.”

On the geopolitical front, less than two weeks after Trump lambasted Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in an Oval Office confrontation, the US president put the pressure on Russia to accept a ceasefire agreement hammered out with Zelenskiy’s advisers.

The accord reached in Saudi Arabia by US and Ukrainian negotiators for a 30-day halt in the conflict, which began with Russia’s full-scale invasion three years ago, now hinges on Russian President Vladimir Putin.

“With risk appetite at extreme bearish levels, there may be room for sentiments to stabilize and a tactical bounce in the near term,” wrote Jun Rong Yeap, market strategist at IG Asia Pte. “Any recovery could remain fragile without a clear catalyst.”

Trump’s latest tariffs on steel and aluminum imports came into force Wednesday, extending his trade wars to more of the US’s top trading partners in a risky bid to revive an industrial base that migrated over decades to foreign competitors. The president announced his plan last month to impose 25% duties on the metals.

The EU launched countermeasures to the new US tariffs on steel and aluminum with plans to impose duties on American goods worth €26 billion ($28.3 billion). The European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, said in a statement that it would move forward with “swift and proportionate” measures.

Investors will also be looking to the US consumer inflation reading later Wednesday. The consumer price index is seen advancing 0.3% in February after a 0.5% gain at the start of the year.

Markets “will be wary of further signs of sticky prices,” said Kyle Rodda, a senior analyst at Capital.com in Melbourne. “Further evidence of inflation stuck at current levels will raise concerns that the Fed will lack the wiggle room to cut rates if Trump’s economic policies cause a precipitous slowdown in economic growth.”

In commodities, oil extended a gain as the US cut its forecast for a global oversupply. Gold held its advance, supported by haven demand.

Do tariffs matter more than the Fed for US stock markets in 2025? Share your views in the latest MLIV Pulse survey here.

Key events this week:

• Canada rate decision, Wednesday

• US CPI, Wednesday

• Eurozone industrial production, Thursday

• US PPI, initial jobless claims, Thursday

• US University of Michigan consumer sentiment, Friday

Some of the main moves in markets:

Stocks

• The Stoxx Europe 600 rose 0.7% as of 8:07 a.m. London time

• S&P 500 futures rose 0.3%

• Nasdaq 100 futures rose 0.4%

• Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.2%

• The MSCI Asia Pacific Index was little changed

• The MSCI Emerging Markets Index was little changed

Currencies

• The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index rose 0.2%

• The euro fell 0.1% to $1.0907

• The Japanese yen fell 0.5% to 148.45 per dollar

• The offshore yuan fell 0.3% to 7.2451 per dollar

• The British pound fell 0.1% to $1.2932

Cryptocurrencies

• Bitcoin fell 0.4% to $82,463.43

• Ether fell 1.2% to $1,913.5

Bonds

• The yield on 10-year Treasuries was little changed at 4.27%

• Germany’s 10-year yield advanced two basis points to 2.92%

• Britain’s 10-year yield advanced one basis point to 4.69%

Commodities

This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.

–With assistance from Matthew Burgess and Chris Bourke.

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