Trump’s pick for trade czar is apparently key to financial markets

November 11

Chatter that President-elect Donald Trump could appoint former U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer to oversee trade policy is moving markets, from the dollar on currency exchanges to stocks that would be sensitive to tariffs. During Trump’s first term as president, Lighthizer was central to his protectionist policy and was in the U.S. trade representative role when Trump launched the trade war with China. The news that Lighthizer could be returning to this post, reported by the Financial Times late Friday, spooked the market — the greenback, for example, spiked in a knee-jerk reaction to the headline. .DXY 5D mountain The Dollar Index over the poast five days. “Any clues on Trump’s appointments may be market moving,” Jim Reid, research strategist at Deutsche Bank, said in a note. “Case in point, the Dollar’s rise immediately after the FT reported late Friday afternoon UK time that Robert Lighthizer would be asked to be the US Trade Representative in the new administration.” The dollar had risen to the strongest level in a year last Wednesday after Trump defeated Vice President Kamala Harris in the presidential sweepstakes. Trump’s policy proposals to cut taxes and slap tariffs on imports are believed to undermine the currencies of some of America’s biggest trading partners. To be sure, Lighthizer’s appointment hasn’t been confirmed and outlets including CNN and Reuters have reported that the FT story was untrue. Bank of America tracks a basket of consumer stocks with high exposure to China tariffs, and these companies plunged Friday. The basket has underperformed the S & P 500 for six weeks running. “I would think there’s more of this volatility ahead given these stocks’ sensitivity to anything Tariff related,” the Bank of America trading desk said in a note to clients. It remains to be seen if Trump will follow through with his campaign threat to impose tariffs as high as 60% on all imports from China, but any updates on this front are expected to move markets.

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