Gold Reaches Record and Treasuries Fall Due to Trump Tariffs – Asia Market Wrap
Treasuries joined a worldwide bond selloff, and equities fell as President Donald Trump’s tariff threats on Greenland rekindled trade tensions, putting market confidence to the test following a rise fuelled by artificial intelligence investments.
Treasuries sank as trading resumed following a US holiday Monday, amid concerns that the Trump administration’s aggressive posture against global peers may reduce demand for American assets. Longer maturities led to losses, with the 30-year yield increasing four basis points to 4.88%. The dollar index plummeted to its lowest level in two weeks.
Equity-index futures showed that US markets would tumble when Wall Street reopened, while contracts predicted further losses for European stocks after their worst day since mid-November. Asian shares fell 0.4%, the highest in almost a week. As confidence deteriorated, demand for safe haven assets skyrocketed, propelling gold and silver to record highs.
In Asia, attention was focused on Japan, where the country’s 40-year bond yield climbed to 4% on Tuesday, the highest since its launch in 2007. In addition, demand for a 20-year government bond offering was lower than the previous 12-month average. Bond prices in Australia and New Zealand plummeted, as did German bund futures.
