US stock markets set for a strong start to the week | Forexlive

The Nasdaq is on a five-week losing streak but poised to rise 320 points at the open. S&P 500 futures are also up 1.2%.

It’s all about tariffs today with the White House floating a less-aggressive strategy to reporters at Bloomberg and the WSJ over the weekend.

What’s odd about the whole situation is that no one can really tell you what’s priced in around tariffs. Trump has floated all kinds of various rates and strategies so it’s not like there is some level of rational pricing going on. It’s all sentiment driven but that is where it will stand until April 2 and beyond and we find out about the scope of retaliation.

In the back of my mind is the strategy of ‘escalate to de-escalate’ and the thinking that 25% tariffs on Mexico and Canada will be ratcheted down to a level those countries can ‘tolerate’ but that might be 5%, it might 10% and there might not be any level that doesn’t lead to retaliation and unintended consequences to cross-border shippers.

For now, everyone is taking it a day at a time (or maybe an hour at a time).