Wall Street évolue en hausse mais reste fébrile

Après une ouverture en baisse, la Bourse de New York évolue en hausse vendredi grâce aux résultats des banques et à la fin d’une semaine plus que mouvementée, mais reste fébrile quant à l’offensive commerciale lancée par Donald Trump.Vers 14H10 GMT, le Dow Jones gagnait 0,38%, l’indice Nasdaq prenait 0,65% et l’indice élargi S&P 500, 0,42%.Malgré la fébrilité constante du marché “nous assistons (vendredi) à une sorte de soupir de soulagement” de la part du marché des investisseurs, commente auprès de l’AFP Adam Sarhan de 50 Park Investments. En cause, notamment, “les investisseurs craignaient que les grandes banques ne connaissent un très mauvais trimestre” à cause de l’offensive commerciale lancée par Donald Trump, mais “ce n’est pas le cas”, assure l’analyste.Les banques ont publié des résultats globalement encourageants avant l’ouverture de Wall Street, même si les cours de ces dernières évoluent en dents de scie à l’ouverture.La banque américaine JPMorgan Chase (+1,88%) a publié vendredi des résultats supérieurs aux attentes au premier trimestre, tout comme la banque d’affaires américaine Morgan Stanley (-0,71%).La banque américaine Wells Fargo, qui a dégagé des résultats mitigés (-4,14%), s’attend pour sa part à un “environnement économique plus instable” en 2025, ce qui pourrait peser sur sa croissance, prévient son patron.Même son de cloche du côté de JPMorgan Chase, son patron, Jamie Dimon, mettant en garde contre les “turbulences considérables” que l’économie doit affronter.”La volatilité des marchés boursiers reflète la baisse de confiance dans les prévisions des entreprises en raison de l’impact des tarifs douaniers, les craintes de récession influençant le comportement des investisseurs”, explique M. O’Hare. Les acteurs du marché restent en effet nerveux et les marchés particulièrement fragiles devant l’escalade dans la guerre commerciale entre Pékin et Washington. La veille, la place américaine avait terminé en nette baisse.Dernier épisode en date: la Chine a annoncé vendredi qu’elle porterait ses droits de douane supplémentaires sur les produits américains à 125%, en réaction aux taxes de 145% imposées par la Maison Blanche cette semaine sur ses importations.”Non seulement (la Chine) copie ce que dit Trump, mais en plus, Pékin se moque de lui”, a noté M. Sarhan à propos des nouvelles surtaxes chinoises. “Cela ne va pas plaire au président américain”, estime-t-il.”L’escalade de la guerre commerciale entre les États-Unis et la Chine, marquée par des droits de douane réciproques supérieurs à 100%, a perturbé le commerce mondial et accru l’incertitude économique”, a resumé dans une note Patrick O’Hare, de Briefing.com. Côté indicateurs, les entreprises américaines ont globalement vu leurs coûts de production diminuer en avril, en raison principalement de la baisse des prix du pétrole, selon l’indice PPI publié vendredi.Sur un mois, l’indice des prix à la production est en recul de 0,4% (contre +0,1% le mois précédent, valeur révisée à la hausse), d’après le rapport du ministère américain du Travail.C’est une surprise pour les analystes qui l’attendaient en hausse de 0,2%, selon le consensus publié par MarketWatch.C’est “un nouveau soupir de soulagement sur le front de l’inflation”, avance Chris Zaccarelli, de Northlight Asset Management.Sur le marché obligataire, le rendement des emprunts d’Etat américains à dix ans se tendait très nettement à 4,52% contre 4,41% la veille en clôture. Donald Trump a reconnu mercredi qu’il surveillait la chute du marché américain de la dette avant de décider de sa pause de trois mois sur une partie de ses surtaxes douanières, tout en maintenant les 10% déjà en vigueur.

Dollar slides, stocks diverge as US-China trade war escalates

The dollar tumbled, gold hit a fresh record high and stock markets seesawed Friday as China again retaliated against US tariffs, deepening a trade war between the world’s two biggest economies.Wall Street opened in the red but quickly rose to cap a highly volatile week as investors grapple with President Donald Trump’s unpredictable tariffs policy.European markets wobbled as China said it would raise its tariffs on US goods to 125 percent but suggested it would not retaliate against any further US increases.Frankfurt fell and Paris was flat in afternoon deals, while London rose as data showed the UK economy grew far more than expected in February.”The main driver of the renewed market pressure was an increased focus on the US-China escalation,” said Jim Reid, managing director at Deutsche Bank.”Neither the US nor China are showing signs of backing down, with President Trump expressing confidence in his tariff plans,” Reid added.The dollar pared back some losses against major currencies after plunging to the lowest level against the euro in more than three years as investors fled what is typically considered a key safe-haven currency.US bonds were also under pressure amid speculation that China was offloading some of its vast holdings in retaliation for Trump’s measures.With treasuries being sold off, sending their yields higher and making US debt more expensive, there is a fear of a bigger exodus from American assets down the line.The weaker dollar and the rush for safety sent gold to a fresh record high above $3,220 an ounce.Oil prices rose slightly after huge falls on Thursday.”There remains considerable uncertainty around the impact of tariffs on economies and company earnings, and that could keep markets volatile for some time,” noted Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell.Investors were also turning to more routine economic and business data, with the release of inflation data and corporate earnings.Official figures showed US producer inflation fell sharply last month before the tariffs took effect.US banking giant JPMorgan Chase reported first-quarter profits of $14.6 billion, up nine percent from the same period last year.But CEO Jamie Dimon warned of “considerable turbulence” for the economy, due to tariffs, sticky inflation, fiscal deficits and volatility.In Asia, the Tokyo stock market shed three percent — a day after surging more than nine percent — while Sydney, Seoul, Singapore, Wellington and Bangkok were also in the red. However, Hong Kong and Shanghai rose as traders focused on possible Chinese stimulus measures. There were gains in Taipei and Ho Chi Minh City stocks as the leaders of Taiwan and Vietnam said they would hold talks with Trump.- Key figures around 1355 GMT -New York – Dow: UP 0.4 percent at 39,735.69 pointsNew York – S&P 500: UP 0.5 percent at 5,296.55New York – Nasdaq: UP 0.8 percent at 16,525.28London – FTSE 100: UP 0.8 percent at 7,976.03Paris – CAC 40: FLAT at 7,125.73Frankfurt – DAX: DOWN 0.7 percent at 20,411.34Tokyo – Nikkei 225: DOWN 3.0 percent at 33,585.58 (close)Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: UP 1.1 percent at 20,914.69 (close)Shanghai – Composite: UP 0.5 percent at 3,238.23 (close)Euro/dollar: UP at $1.1342 from $1.1183 on ThursdayPound/dollar: UP at $1.3071 from $1.2954Dollar/yen: DOWN at 143.26 yen from 144.79 yenEuro/pound: UP at 86.73 pence from 86.33 penceBrent North Sea Crude: UP 0.5 percent at $63.62 per barrelWest Texas Intermediate: UP 0.5 percent at $60.36 per barrelburs-lth/kjm

China lifts tariffs on US goods to 125% as trade war escalates

China said Friday it would raise its tariffs on US goods to 125 percent in a further escalation of a trade war that threatens to bring exports to a halt between the world’s two biggest economies.Beijing’s retaliation sparked fresh market volatility, with stocks seesawing, gold prices surging and US government bonds under pressure. In a message on social media on Friday morning, US President Donald Trump continued to insist that “we are doing really well on our tariff policy.” “Very exciting for America, and the World!!! It is moving along quickly,” he wrote.But in a sign of investors’ worries about the health of the US economy under Trump’s erratic stewardship, the dollar fell to a three-year low against the euro.In Beijing, China’s State Council Tariff Commission said new tariffs of 125 percent on US goods would take effect Saturday, almost matching the staggering 145 percent level imposed on Chinese goods coming into America.A Commerce Ministry spokesperson said the United States bore “full responsibility for this”, deriding Trump’s tariffs as a “numbers game” that “will become a joke”.The Chinese finance ministry said tariffs would not go any higher because “there is no possibility of market acceptance for US goods exported to China” — an acknowledgement that almost no imports are possible at the new level.Economists warn that the disruption in trade between the tightly integrated US and Chinese economies threatens businesses, will increase prices for consumers, and could cause a global recession.Ipek Ozkardeskaya, an analyst at the Swissquote bank, said the tariff figures were “so high that they don’t make sense any more.””For China though — it’s clear they’re now ready to go as far as needed, having given up short-term gains for long-term relief,” she told AFP. – ‘Beautiful thing’ -Trump sent global financial markets into a tailspin by announcing historic tariffs on America’s trading partners on April 2, including a 10-percent baseline for all goods coming into the United States.After days of plunging markets, on Wednesday he froze the higher tariff rates of 20 percent or more imposed on allies such as the European Union or Japan, but kept an additional rate of 34 percent on China.Beijing has since retaliated, leading to tit-for-tat increases over the past few days that culminated in Friday’s latest move. Trump insisted Thursday he was looking to do a deal with Chinese President Xi Jinping.”He’s been a friend of mine for a long period of time. I think that we’ll end up working out something that’s very good for both countries,” he told reporters.During talks with Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez on Friday, state media quoted Xi as saying Friday that China and the EU should team up on trade.”China and Europe should fulfil their international responsibilities… and jointly resist unilateral bullying practices,” Xi said.Top EU officials and Chinese leaders are set to hold their next summit marking 50 years of ties in China in July, a spokesperson for the European Council announced Friday.- European response -Europe is still weighing up its response.EU trade chief Maros Sefcovic is set to hold talks with his US counterparts in Washington on Monday, his spokeswoman said.Trump described the European Union as “very smart” for refraining from retaliatory levies. But the 27-nation bloc’s chief Ursula von der Leyen told the Financial Times on Friday that it remained armed with a “wide range of countermeasures” if negotiations with Trump hit the skids.”An example is you could put a levy on the advertising revenues of digital services” applying across the bloc, which would hit US tech companies, she said.The European Central Bank sought to soothe markets on Friday, saying it was ready to act should Trump’s tariff blitz threaten financial stability in the eurozone. The ECB “is always ready to use the instruments that it has available”, ECB chief Christine Lagarde said in Warsaw.- Markets -On Wall Street, shares opened lower but rose shortly thereafter as investors scrambled to understand the impact of the latest announcements.European markets opened higher only to fall after China’s retaliation and paring down losses later in the day.In Asia, with Tokyo closed three percent lower while Sydney, Seoul, Singapore and others also sagged.Gold, a haven in times of uncertainty, hit a new record above $3,200 while investors spooked by Trump’s policies dumped normally rock-solid US Treasuries.Some traders speculated that China was offloading some of its vast holdings — which increase the cost of borrowing for the US government — in retaliation for Trump’s measures.burs-adp/lth

JPMorgan Chase sees ‘considerable turbulence’ facing economy as profits rise

JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon said Friday that US Treasury bonds remained a safe place in an unpredictable world as he warned of “considerable turbulence” facing the economy.The big US bank reported higher quarterly profits in results overshadowed by upheaval in financial markets as equity markets have churned amid gyrations in the US Treasury market and a falling US dollar.US bond yields were up again early Friday, indicating weaker demand for US Treasuries, long considered a safe haven asset. Dimon rejected the notion that US Treasuries were no longer a haven, but acknowledged an impact from recent market volatility.”It does change the nature a little bit from the certainty point of view,” Dimon said in a conference call with reporters.”But it doesn’t take away the fact that if you’re going to invest your money in something, America is still a pretty, pretty good place in this turbulent world.”The volatility in the Treasury market has been accompanied by a drop in the US dollar that analysts attribute to a weakening US economic outlook and to questions about President Trump’s fluctuating trade policy.Dimon’s comments came as the giant US bank reported first-quarter profits of $14.6 billion, up nine percent from the year-ago level in results that topped analyst expectations.Revenues were $45.3 billion, up eight percent.The lender had a steady performance across businesses, with the biggest profits coming from its corporate and investment bank.Equity markets revenues soared 48 percent as the bank pointed to an especially strong performance in derivatives “amid elevated levels of volatility,” JPMorgan said in a press release. The bank also scored higher revenues in trades connected to interest rates and commodities.Bank officials said they had not seen signs of a steep change in consumer behavior due to tariffs. But they said there had been some move by consumers to “pull forward” spending on some items ahead of tariffs.- Becoming more cautious -Dimon reported hearing “anecdotal” evidence that companies are becoming more reticent about deals.Dimon is hearing that people “are being very cautious about investment,” he said. “What you see in the actual data coming forward, I don’t know.”Dimon in recent days has warned of an increased risk of recession due to Trump’s aggressive trade policy, with China responding to Trump’s latest tariff hike with an escalation of its own.In an earnings press release, Dimon described the economy as “facing considerable turbulence (including geopolitics), with the potential positives of tax reform and deregulation and the potential negatives of tariffs and ‘trade wars,’ ongoing sticky inflation, high fiscal deficits and still rather high asset prices and volatility.” Dimon said.JPMorgan set aside additional reserves of $973 million in case of loan defaults, a sign that it is preparing for a potentially weaker economy. Overall provisions rose 75 percent from the year-ago level.The additional reserves reflect that JPMorgan has adjusted its economic scenario “to add a little bit of downside risk and increase the uncertainty,” said Chief Financial Officer Jeremy Barnum.Shares jumped 3.2 percent in early trading.

Spanish NY helicopter crash victims were marking birthday

The Spanish family killed when a New York sightseeing helicopter plunged into the Hudson River, leaving no survivors, were celebrating a birthday, a local official said on Friday.A senior business executive, his wife and three children died along with the aircraft’s pilot when the helicopter malfunctioned, disintegrating in mid-air before plunging into the cold waterway below Thursday.They’d taken the spectacular sight-seeing flight over Manhattan as a treat for the mother.”The family flew out to extend the trip a couple days in NYC. They were celebrating the mom’s 40th birthday with the tourist helicopter flight yesterday. The kids were all 11 years old and younger,” said Jersey City mayor Steven Fulop.A family member was flying in to recover their remains and officials were seeking to expedite the release of the bodies to be repatriated to Spain, he added on X.Investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board were reportedly on site Friday with no conclusive report on the incident expected for months.Images showed the cockpit of the passenger helicopter being lifted from the river by a barge crane overnight, and stored at a nearby Army Corps of Engineers site in Jersey City on the other side of the river from Manhattan, Fulop said.- ‘Heartbreaking and tragic’ -Siemens confirmed to AFP that one of the victims was Agustin Escobar, the CEO of a unit under the global technology firm.Reports suggested his wife Merce Camprubi was among the dead.The bodies of all six victims, including the three children, were recovered from the water, Mayor Eric Adams told a briefing Thursday. He  called it a “heartbreaking and tragic crash.”The aircraft’s operator, said by officers to be New York Helicopter, had yet to comment or confirm the identity of its pilot.Video of the incident has emerged showing the cockpit apparently becoming detached from the rotor with the disintegrating aircraft falling into the busy river below.”It appears that the main rotor struck the body of the helicopter, cutting off the tail of the helicopter, which created an unrecoverable event,” said former military aviator and attorney Jim Brauchle of Motley Rice. “The two main causes of this phenomenon are mechanical failure or excessive maneuvering.”No cause for the crash has been given officially.Police and fire service divers raced to pull survivors from the wreckage, rushing two of those rescued to hospital, but doctors were unable to save them.There have been around 30 helicopter crashes in New York since 1980, Brooklyn Borough President Mark Levine told reporters, calling for tighter restrictions on helicopter traffic in the city.

Gaza rescuers say children among 10 killed in Israeli strike

Dozens of Israeli air strikes on Gaza have killed “only women and children” after a ceasefire collapsed, the UN said, as an Israeli attack in the territory’s south on Friday left a family of 10 dead.A UN rights office report also warned that expanding Israeli evacuation orders were resulting in the “forcible transfer” of people into ever-shrinking areas, raising “real concern as to the future viability of Palestinians as a group in Gaza”.Israel’s military said it was looking into the attack that killed members of the same family in Khan Yunis, southern Gaza, adding separately that it had struck approximately 40 “terror targets” across the territory over the past day.Israel resumed its Gaza strikes on March 18, ending a two-month ceasefire with Hamas.Since then, more than 1,500 people have been killed, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory to which Israel cut off aid more than a month ago.”Ten people, including seven children, were brought to the hospital as martyrs following an Israeli air strike that targeted the Farra family home in central Khan Yunis,” civil defence spokesperson Mahmud Bassal told AFP.AFP footage of the aftermath showed several bodies wrapped in white shrouds and blankets, and footage of the house showed mangled concrete slabs and twisted metal.- ‘Women and children’ -Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan lashed denounced Israel, saying: “If this is not barbarism, I ask you, what is it?”Early Friday, Israel’s military issued an evacuation warning to residents of several areas east of Gaza City ahead of a new offensive there.The UN decried the impact of the ongoing Israeli strikes, finding that “a large percentage of fatalities are children and women”.”Between 18 March and 9 April 2025, there were some 224 incidents of Israeli strikes on residential buildings and tents for internally displaced people,” the UN human rights office said in Geneva.”In some 36 strikes about which the UN Human Rights Office corroborated information, the fatalities recorded so far were only women and children.”Israel’s military has repeatedly said Palestinian militants often hide among civilians, a charge Hamas denies.UN rights office spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani also raised concerns over “the denial of access to basic necessities within Gaza and the repeated suggestion that Gazans should leave the territory entirely”.Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan, after meeting regional counterparts in Turkey, urged “maximum pressure to ensure” aid is delivered into Gaza.The war broke out after Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack on Israel resulted in the deaths of 1,218 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli official figures.Militants also took 251 hostages, 58 of whom are still held in Gaza, including 34 the Israeli military says are dead.Gaza’s health ministry said Friday at least 1,542 Palestinians have been killed since March 18, taking the overall death toll since the war began to 50,912.- Ceasefire efforts -A truce brokered by the United States, Egypt and Qatar that took effect on January 19 and lasted until March 17 saw the return of 33 Israeli hostages, eight of them in coffins, in exchange for around 1,800 Palestinian prisoners.In a Passover holiday message, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reiterated his pledge to bring the remaining captives home.He spoke after US President Donald Trump suggested progress in hostage release talks, telling a cabinet meeting on Thursday that “we’re getting close to getting them back”.Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff was also quoted in an Israeli media report as saying “a very serious deal is taking shape, it’s a matter of days”.Israeli media reported Friday that Egypt and Israel had exchanged draft documents on a ceasefire-hostage release deal.The Times of Israel said Egypt’s proposal would mean eight living hostages and eight bodies released in exchange for a truce of between 40 and 70 days and a large number of Palestinian prisoner releases.A senior Hamas leader who declined to be identified told journalists the group had “not received any new ceasefire offer”.”The movement is open to any new proposal that would achieve a ceasefire, withdraw the occupation’s forces, and end the suffering of the Palestinian people.”In his message for Passover — a holiday celebrating the biblical liberation of the Israelites from slavery in Egypt — Netanyahu said that “together we will return our hostages”.He has insisted that increased military pressure is the only way to get the captives home.

Wall Street ouvre en baisse, reste particulièrement fébrile

La Bourse de New York a ouvert en baisse vendredi, à la fin d’une semaine plus que mouvementée, demeurant fébrile face à l’offensive commerciale lancée par Donald Trump.Dans les premiers échanges, le Dow Jones perdait 0,27%, l’indice Nasdaq lâchait 0,15% et l’indice élargi S&P 500, 0,17%.