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Investing.com - Volatility in stocks is seen persisting for "some time" after President Donald Trump's tariff announcement triggered an equity market sell-off, according to analysts at BlackRock (NYSE:BLK).
In a note to clients, the strategists led by Jean Boivin said they were moving to shorten their tactical horizon to three months and reduce risk-taking, adding that they were lowering their exposure to both U.S. and Chinese stocks and preferring short-term Treasuries as a refuge from further ructions.
"A shorter tactical horizon means giving more weight to our early view that risk assets could stay under near-term pressure until uncertainty starts to dissipate," the analysts wrote.
The blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average and benchmark S&P 500 both finished modestly lower following rollercoaster trading activity on Monday, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite edged up by 0.1%. While not stellar, the relative bounce in stocks marked somewhat of a respite after a 10% slump in the prior two sessions.
Tariff-fueled swings in stocks led to a surge in the VIX, widely known as Wall Street's fear gauge, to levels not seen since the COVID-19 pandemic sparked a steep tumble in March 2020.
Investors remain wary that the concerns around the impact of Trump's historic levies, which include a minimum 10% for all U.S. imports and targeted rates of up to 50%, are not likely to fade soon.
Analysts have said the moves could also weigh on broader U.S. economic activity, depending on how long they stay in effect for.
"Policy uncertainty may weigh on growth and stocks in the near term – and the longer elevated uncertainty persists, the more damage it can do," the BlackRock analysts said.
Leading figures on Wall Street, such as J.P. Morgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon, have warned that the negative effects of the tariffs may expand "cumulatively over time and would be hard to reverse."
Markets are still attempting to understand if the Trump administration plans to impose the tariffs permanently or use them as a cudgle during negotiations with trading partners. On Monday, Trump said "both can be true."
U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer is due to tell the Senate Finance Committee on Tuesday that he has been approached by almost 50 countries asking to discuss Trump's sweeping tariffs, according to media reports.
Greer will say in written testimony that several of these countries, like Argentina, Vietnam, and Israel, have suggested they will bring down their tariffs and non-tariff barriers, Reuters reported.