By Stefan KIRSCH
Published on Tue, 04/08/2025 - 00:00
Apple plans to send more iPhones to the U.S. from India to offset the high cost of China tariffs, people familiar with the matter said. The adjustments are a short-term stopgap while Apple attempts to win an exemption from President Trump’s tariffs - which Chief Executive Tim Cook obtained during the first Trump administration. The company sees the current situation as too uncertain to upend long-term investments in its supply chain, which is centered around China, the people said. Trump’s new tariff package raises levies on Chinese goods to at least 54% while imposing a 26% rate on Indian goods. On Monday, Trump threatened to add to China tariffs if the country doesn’t remove the retaliatory duties they announced after U.S. tariff plans were revealed on April 2. The iPhone is Apple’s signature product and makes up about 50% of its revenue. The company’s heavy reliance on China for manufacturing has spooked investors concerned about its exposure to tariffs, leading to a 19% decline in its shares, their worst three-day performance in nearly 25 years.
The Switzerland market ended sharply lower on Monday as stocks reeled under sustained selling pressure right through the day's session amid growing fears of a global recession due to the ongoing trade war. The market found some support around late afternoon and very nearly moved into positive territory, but a fresh round of selling in the closing hour pushed it down sharply once again. The benchmark SMI closed down 601.35 points or 5.16% at 11,047.48. The index tanked to a low of 10,775.83 in early trades, losing nearly 875 points in the process. None of the components of the benchmark made it to positive territory. Partners Group ended down 9.74%. Givaudan and Adecco plunged 8.15% and 8%, respectively. Swiss Life Holding ended 7.2% down. SGS, Sika, Roche Holding, Julius Baer, Zurich Insurance Group, Holcim, Novartis, Kuehne + Nagel, Lonza Group, Richemont, Sandoz Group, Nestle, SIG Group, Geberit and ABB lost 4 to 6.5%. UBS Group, Logitech International, Swatch Group, Straumann Holding and Lindt & Spruengli also ended sharply lower. GAM and Swiss RE signed a deal targeting the catastrophe bond and insurance-linked securities market. GAM climbed 2.84%, while Swiss Re closed down 6.42%. Data from Swiss National Bank showed that it held 725.616 billion Swiss francs in foreign currency at the end of March, compared with an upwardly revised 735.440 billion francs in February.
Europe
European stocks nosedived soon after the opening bell Monday morning, and despite recovering some lost ground subsequently and even managing to move closer to the flat line around late afternoon, failed to find support and eventually ended the day's session on a very weak note. Several markets in the region plunged to multi-month lows as the mood remained extremely bearish as the U.S. President's decision to impose hefty levies on several goods imported into the country, and China's retaliatory move against American goods, and the prospects of more countries joining in to counter Trump's tariffs has raised fears of a global recession. Weak German industrial production data, and Trump's warning over the weekend that governments would have to pay 'a lot of money' to lift sweeping tariffs, added to the woes. The possibility of China exporting goods to the EU at far cheaper rates has raised concerns that Germany's industrial sector might see an erosion in revenues in the near term. UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer spoke with international leaders at the weekend to discuss the repercussions and future course of action in the wake of reciprocal tariffs announced by the United States. In separate calls Sunday, Starmer spoke with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and leader of the German Christian Democratic Union party Friedrich Merz. The pan European Stoxx 600 ended down 4.5%. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 closed down 4.38%, Germany's DAX settled 4.13% down, and France's CAC 40 ended 4.78% down. Switzerland's SMI lost 5.16%. Among other markets in Europe, Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Finland, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Spain and Sweden ended sharply lower. Denmark and Norway closed moderately lower, while Turkiye ended modestly higher. In the UK market, Melrose Industries, Relx, Intertek Group, Haleon, AstraZeneca, Reckitt Benckiser, Centrica, M&G, Informa, Aviva, Segro, GSK and National Grid lost 6 to 8%.
United States
Following the nosedive seen over the two previous sessions, stocks saw substantial volatility over the course of the trading day on Monday. The major averages spent the day swinging back and forth across the unchanged line before eventually closing mixed. While the tech-heavy Nasdaq inched up 15.48 points or 0.1 percent at 15,603.26 after plummeting by more than 5 percent in early trading, the S&P 500 dipped 11.83 points or 0.2 percent to 5,062.25 and the Dow slid 349.26 points or 0.9 percent to 37,965.60. Stocks initially extended the sell-off seen over the two previous sessions amid ongoing concerns about the impact of President Donald Trump's new tariffs and retaliatory moves by U.S. trade partners. Selling pressure waned shortly after the start of trading, however, leading some traders to pick up stocks at reduced levels after the major averages hit their lowest intraday levels in over a year. The S&P 500 also briefly joined the Nasdaq in bear market territory, plunging by more than 20 percent from its record closing high in February. Adding to worries about a global trade war, Trump threatened to impose an additional 50 percent tariff on Chinese goods unless the country withdraws its new 34 percent tariff on U.S. goods. Trump also threatened to terminate negotiations with China even as he said his administration is in talks with 'countries from all over the world' and 'tough but fair parameters are being set.' White House National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett claimed in an appearance on ABC's 'This Week' that more than 50 countries have reached out to Trump to begin negotiations. Housing stocks finished the day sharply lower, dragging the Philadelphia Housing Sector Index down by 3.6 percent to its lowest closing level in well over a year. Computer hardware stocks also showed a significant move to the upside, with the NYSE Arca Computer Hardware Index jumping by 1.8 percent.
Asia
The Asian stock exchanges are on course for a recovery on Tuesday after the price debacle of the previous day. In this confusing situation, Tokyo's Nikkei 225 index jumped 5 per cent to 32,703 points after falling by almost 8 per cent on Monday. Seoul only recovered by 0.5 per cent from the 5.6 per cent setback there. Sydney rose by 1.9 per cent. Trump's new tariff threat has led to a very meagre countermovement on the Chinese stock markets, which fell by 7.3% (Shanghai) and over 13% (Hong Kong) on Monday. In Hong Kong, it was the biggest daily drop since 1997. The Shanghai Composite rose by 0.9 percent, while the HSI in Hong Kong only gained 1.6 percent.
Bonds
In the U.S. bond market, treasuries pulled back sharply after moving substantially higher over the two previous sessions. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, surged 17.0 basis points to 4.155 percent.
Analysis
UBS raises Deutsche Börse target to 325 (275) EUR/Buy – Traders
Deutsche Bank raises Palfinger target to EUR 40 (33) – Buy
Citi lowers Kion target to EUR 56 (60) – Buy