Stocks in Asia and Europe fell on Friday amid fears of a worsening trade war, as investors' relief turned to angst after Washington announced tariffs on China have risen to 145 per cent.
Japan's Nikkei 225 Index slumped almost 3 per cent, while South Korea's Kospi, which managed to recover some earlier losses, closed trading 0.5 per cent lower. The benchmark equities gauge in Australia also retreated 0.8 per cent.
In China, Hong Kong's Hang Seng and the Shanghai Composite Index advanced by 1.13 per cent and 0.45 per cent respectively, amid hopes Beijing will introduce a stimulus package to offset the effect of increased US tariffs on the world’s second-largest economy.
China has raised the stakes in the trade war with the US by increasing its tariffs on American goods to 125 per cent.
The move is in response to "abnormally high tariffs [that] seriously violate international economic and trade rules, basic economic laws and common sense, and are completely unilateral bullying and coercion", China's Customs Tariff Commission of the State Council said on Friday.
Starting on Saturday, "the tariff increase measures on imported goods originating from the US will be adjusted", it said.
Dubai's DFM General Index tracked the broader markets weakness and fell 0.35 per cent, but the gauge in Abu Dhabi managed slight gains.
European stocks also retreated, With FTSE 100 Index in London, declining 0.22 per cent, Germany's Deutsche Borse Dax falling 1.68 per cent and Franc's CAC 40 Index sliding 1.06 per cent.
A US market sell-off resumed on Thursday, as Wall Street's major indexes gave back some gains made in a blistering session the day before. Investors fear Washington's tariffs on China will deepen the trade war between the world's top economies, which will dent global economic growth and disrupt the flow of goods and services.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average tumbled 1,014 points, or 2.5 per cent, while the S&P 500 Index, which on Thursday recorded its best showing since the global financial crisis, slid 3.46 per cent. The Nasdaq Composite Index ended the day with 4.31 per cent losses.
US tariffs on China are effectively 145 per cent, the White House said on Thursday. A White House official clarified that the 125 per cent "reciprocal" tariff rate comes on top of the existing 20 per cent tariff related to fentanyl trafficking. China has so far raised tariffs on US products to 84 per cent and has vowed to fight against the US levies "to the end".
China is one of the US's biggest trade partners. Total trade goods between the US and China last year were worth an estimated $582.4 billion, according to the US Trade Representative.
Thursday's trading session comes a day after US President Donald Trump announced a 90-day pause on new tariffs for countries other than China. All other nations affected by the tariffs will return to a 10 per cent duty as they negotiate with the US.
Markets surged after Mr Trump's tariff reversal. The Dow had its best day since March 2020, while the Nasdaq Composite notched its biggest one-day gain since 2001. The S&P 500 had its best day since 2008.
“The repeated changes in President Trump’s tariff stance have undermined investor confidence in the US government and economy,” Bloomberg quoted Carol Kong, a strategist at the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, as saying. “The sell-offs in US equities, bonds and the dollar suggest market participants are reallocating their portfolios away from US dollar assets.”
Mr Trump on Thursday told reporters that he thought people were "getting a little bit yippy, a little bit afraid” as his tariff announcements hit markets.
He also said he had watched JP Morgan Chase chief executive Jamie Dimon's interview on Fox Business on Wednesday morning before making his decision. During the interview, Mr Dimon said he believed a recession was a “likely outcome” from the tariff regime and urged Mr Trump to allow Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to negotiate deals.
The decision also came after a sell-off in the bond market – traditionally seen as a safe haven – on Wednesday that led to a surge in yields. “The bond market is very tricky. I was watching it,” Mr Trump said.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury was lower by about five basis points to 4.345 per cent after a report from the Labour Department showed inflation had cooled slightly more than expected in March. The headline consumer price index fell 0.1 per cent on a monthly basis in March and 2.4 per cent year on year.
Jihan Abdalla contributed to this report
Starring: Jamie Foxx, Angela Bassett, Tina Fey
Directed by: Pete Doctor
Rating: 4 stars
Strait of Hormuz
Fujairah is a crucial hub for fuel storage and is just outside the Strait of Hormuz, a vital shipping route linking Middle East oil producers to markets in Asia, Europe, North America and beyond.
The strait is 33 km wide at its narrowest point, but the shipping lane is just three km wide in either direction. Almost a fifth of oil consumed across the world passes through the strait.
Iran has repeatedly threatened to close the strait, a move that would risk inviting geopolitical and economic turmoil.
Last month, Iran issued a new warning that it would block the strait, if it was prevented from using the waterway following a US decision to end exemptions from sanctions for major Iranian oil importers.
Classification of skills
A worker is categorised as skilled by the MOHRE based on nine levels given in the International Standard Classification of Occupations (ISCO) issued by the International Labour Organisation.
A skilled worker would be someone at a professional level (levels 1 – 5) which includes managers, professionals, technicians and associate professionals, clerical support workers, and service and sales workers.
The worker must also have an attested educational certificate higher than secondary or an equivalent certification, and earn a monthly salary of at least Dh4,000.
Results:
Women:
1. Rhiannan Iffland (AUS) 322.95 points
2. Lysanne Richard (CAN) 285.75
3. Ellie Smart (USA) 277.70
Men:
1. Gary Hunt (GBR) 431.55
2. Constantin Popovici (ROU) 424.65
3. Oleksiy Prygorov (UKR) 392.30
Tamkeen's offering
- Option 1: 70% in year 1, 50% in year 2, 30% in year 3
- Option 2: 50% across three years
- Option 3: 30% across five years
The President's Cake
Director: Hasan Hadi
Starring: Baneen Ahmad Nayyef, Waheed Thabet Khreibat, Sajad Mohamad Qasem
Rating: 4/5
ULTRA PROCESSED FOODS
- Carbonated drinks, sweet or savoury packaged snacks, confectionery, mass-produced packaged breads and buns
- margarines and spreads; cookies, biscuits, pastries, cakes, and cake mixes, breakfast cereals, cereal and energy bars;
- energy drinks, milk drinks, fruit yoghurts and fruit drinks, cocoa drinks, meat and chicken extracts and instant sauces
- infant formulas and follow-on milks, health and slimming products such as powdered or fortified meal and dish substitutes,
- many ready-to-heat products including pre-prepared pies and pasta and pizza dishes, poultry and fish nuggets and sticks, sausages, burgers, hot dogs, and other reconstituted meat products, powdered and packaged instant soups, noodles and desserts.
Desert Warrior
Starring: Anthony Mackie, Aiysha Hart, Ben Kingsley
Director: Rupert Wyatt
Rating: 3/5
2025 Fifa Club World Cup groups
Group A: Palmeiras, Porto, Al Ahly, Inter Miami.
Group B: Paris Saint-Germain, Atletico Madrid, Botafogo, Seattle.
Group C: Bayern Munich, Auckland City, Boca Juniors, Benfica.
Group D: Flamengo, ES Tunis, Chelsea, (Leon banned).
Group E: River Plate, Urawa, Monterrey, Inter Milan.
Group F: Fluminense, Borussia Dortmund, Ulsan, Mamelodi Sundowns.
Group G: Manchester City, Wydad, Al Ain, Juventus.
Group H: Real Madrid, Al Hilal, Pachuca, Salzburg.
How to protect yourself when air quality drops
Install an air filter in your home.
Close your windows and turn on the AC.
Shower or bath after being outside.
Wear a face mask.
Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.
If driving, turn your engine off when stationary.
Company%20profile
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
THE SPECS
2020 Toyota Corolla Hybrid LE
Engine: 1.8 litre combined with 16-volt electric motors
Transmission: Automatic with manual shifting mode
Power: 121hp
Torque: 142Nm
Price: Dh95,900
Libya's Gold
UN Panel of Experts found regime secretly sold a fifth of the country's gold reserves.
The panel’s 2017 report followed a trail to West Africa where large sums of cash and gold were hidden by Abdullah Al Senussi, Qaddafi’s former intelligence chief, in 2011.
Cases filled with cash that was said to amount to $560m in 100 dollar notes, that was kept by a group of Libyans in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.
A second stash was said to have been held in Accra, Ghana, inside boxes at the local offices of an international human rights organisation based in France.
Who's who in Yemen conflict
Houthis: Iran-backed rebels who occupy Sanaa and run unrecognised government
Yemeni government: Exiled government in Aden led by eight-member Presidential Leadership Council
Southern Transitional Council: Faction in Yemeni government that seeks autonomy for the south
Habrish 'rebels': Tribal-backed forces feuding with STC over control of oil in government territory
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Farage on Muslim Brotherhood
Nigel Farage told Reform's annual conference that the party will proscribe the Muslim Brotherhood if he becomes Prime Minister.
"We will stop dangerous organisations with links to terrorism operating in our country," he said. "Quite why we've been so gutless about this – both Labour and Conservative – I don't know.
“All across the Middle East, countries have banned and proscribed the Muslim Brotherhood as a dangerous organisation. We will do the very same.”
It is 10 years since a ground-breaking report into the Muslim Brotherhood by Sir John Jenkins.
Among the former diplomat's findings was an assessment that “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” has “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
The prime minister at the time, David Cameron, who commissioned the report, said membership or association with the Muslim Brotherhood was a "possible indicator of extremism" but it would not be banned.
GOLF’S RAHMBO
- 5 wins in 22 months as pro
- Three wins in past 10 starts
- 45 pro starts worldwide: 5 wins, 17 top 5s
- Ranked 551th in world on debut, now No 4 (was No 2 earlier this year)
- 5th player in last 30 years to win 3 European Tour and 2 PGA Tour titles before age 24 (Woods, Garcia, McIlroy, Spieth)
Pathaan
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Bert van Marwijk factfile
Born: May 19 1952
Place of birth: Deventer, Netherlands
Playing position: Midfielder
Teams managed:
1998-2000 Fortuna Sittard
2000-2004 Feyenoord
2004-2006 Borussia Dortmund
2007-2008 Feyenoord
2008-2012 Netherlands
2013-2014 Hamburg
2015-2017 Saudi Arabia
2018 Australia
Major honours (manager):
2001/02 Uefa Cup, Feyenoord
2007/08 KNVB Cup, Feyenoord
World Cup runner-up, Netherlands
Our legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
In-demand jobs and monthly salaries
- Technology expert in robotics and automation: Dh20,000 to Dh40,000
- Energy engineer: Dh25,000 to Dh30,000
- Production engineer: Dh30,000 to Dh40,000
- Data-driven supply chain management professional: Dh30,000 to Dh50,000
- HR leader: Dh40,000 to Dh60,000
- Engineering leader: Dh30,000 to Dh55,000
- Project manager: Dh55,000 to Dh65,000
- Senior reservoir engineer: Dh40,000 to Dh55,000
- Senior drilling engineer: Dh38,000 to Dh46,000
- Senior process engineer: Dh28,000 to Dh38,000
- Senior maintenance engineer: Dh22,000 to Dh34,000
- Field engineer: Dh6,500 to Dh7,500
- Field supervisor: Dh9,000 to Dh12,000
- Field operator: Dh5,000 to Dh7,000
