Stocks skid, gold gains as tariffs wipe out inflation relief

TOKYO/LONDON :European stocks and U.S. futures slipped on Thursday as investors turned their attention back to an escalating global trade war, after a mild rally on the back of softer-than-expected U.S. inflation data on Wednesday.

Stocks fell in Asia, reversing initial gains, while gold climbed to within $10 of its record peak and the safe-haven yen ticked up.

The pan-European STOXX 600 index dipped slightly in early trading after rising 0.81 per cent on Wednesday, while Germany's DAX was down 0.62 per cent.

Futures pointed to a lower start for Wall Street at the open, with S&P 500 futures losing 0.54 per cent and Nasdaq futures off 0.78 per cent.

In Asia, Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell 0.58 per cent and Japan's Nikkei gave up gains of as much as 1.4 per cent to last trade 0.1 per cent lower.

Global stocks have stumbled, led by U.S. equities, in recent weeks as U.S. President Donald Trump's stop-start tariff policies have sown uncertainty and worries about growth among companies and investors.

Yet beaten-down U.S. tech shares led a rebound on Wall Street on Wednesday after data showed U.S. consumer prices rose at the slowest pace since October last month.

The inflation figures were closely watched following a recent run of softer economic data, but ultimately did not capture the impact from Trump's tariff campaign. Investors will keep an eye on U.S. producer price data due later today.

"Markets are still being driven by Trump tariffs and U.S. growth concerns," said Mohit Kumar, chief European economist at Jefferies.

"Beyond the growth and inflation impact of tariffs, they create uncertainty which is negative for investment and outlook for any company involved in cross-border trades," he said. "Our view has been that tariffs are not an inflation story but a growth story."

Trump's increased tariffs on all U.S. steel and aluminium imports took effect on Wednesday, stepping up a campaign to reorder global trade in favour of the U.S. and drawing swift retaliation from Canada and Europe.

Gold climbed for a third straight session to as high as $2,947, closing in on the record high from February 24 at $2,956.15.

The U.S. S&P 500 is now down almost 5 per cent for the year. European stocks have fared better, supported by governments' plans for major spending on defence and a potential Ukraine peace deal, and are up around 6.6 per cent despite slipping in recent weeks.

"This... still strikes me as a market that simply cannot hold onto any gains at the moment, which should be a big old red flag for any potential dip buyers out there," said Michael Brown, senior research strategist at Pepperstone.

The yen strengthened about 0.3 per cent to 147.83 per dollar, bolstered by bets on Bank of Japan rate hikes and investors seeking a safe haven.

The euro edged 0.1 per cent lower to $1.0879, retreating further from a five-month high of $1.0947 touched on Tuesday.

Germany's outgoing lower house of parliament will hold a special session on Thursday to debate a 500 billion euro ($543.85 billion) fund for infrastructure and sweeping changes to borrowing rules.

U.S. Treasury yields held broadly steady, with the 10-year yield flat at 4.318 per cent after rising over the two previous sessions.

Crude oil ticked higher after rallying on Wednesday. Brent futures rose 0.3 per cent to $71.15 a barrel.

($1 = 0.9194 euros)