Here's an extract from an article in Britain's Financial Times:
Donald Trump’s bid to upend the international trading order with huge tariffs has wiped $5.4tn from US stocks in two days, as China hit back with its own levies, deepening fears of recession in the global economy. The S&P 500 index tumbled 6 per cent on Friday, following a 4.8 per cent drop the previous day, shedding $5.38tn in market value, in the wake of the US president’s “liberation day” announcement on Wednesday, according to Financial Times calculations based on FactSet data. The blue-chip index’s 9.1 per cent fall for the week was the biggest since the onset of the pandemic five years ago. Tech stocks, including behemoths such as Apple and Amazon, retreated, pushing the Nasdaq Composite down more than 20 per cent from its mid-December peak, tipping the gauge into “bear market” territory. Across the Atlantic, Europe’s Stoxx 600 shed 8.4 per cent on the week, while the UK’s FTSE 100 fell 7 per cent. MSCI’s Asia index fell 4.5 per cent. The turmoil underscores how Trump’s plans to enact a 10 per cent universal tariff and hit many countries with bigger “reciprocal” duties within days have shaken investor confidence and triggered fears of a slowdown in the world’s biggest economy. China, the world’s biggest exporter, added to the sense of gloom on Friday when it announced duties of 34 per cent on all US imports. “If the reciprocal tariffs are not walked back by April 9, which I don’t think they will be, you will probably be looking at a recession in the United States and the European Union,” said Ajay Rajadhyaksha, global chair of research at Barclays. “Unless there is a very quick end to this global trade war, we think we get a US recession this year.” Federal Reserve chair Jay Powell also warned on Friday that Trump’s tariffs would cause “higher inflation and slower growth”.
I know a Trillion is not what it used to be, but it seems an awful lot of value to lose in two days.