While the issue of tariff war is the main concern of the market, US President Donald Trump came up with several surprises in the New York session yesterday.
Following China's refusal to bow to Trump's tariffs and also imposing additional tariffs, Trump, who previously warned of a 104% tariff on China, announced a new increase to 125% effective immediately.
This action is said to be a 'lesson' to China so that it will not oppose America again in the future.
Although the announcement increased concerns, Trump's subsequent actions have restored market sentiment.
Following more than 75 countries contacting American officials for tariff settlement negotiations, Trump has ordered a 90-day tariff suspension period.
During that period, reciprocal tariffs will be reduced to 10% effective immediately.
However, according to US officials, there is no change in the tariffs on Canada and Mexico for autos, steel and aluminum that were previously imposed.
The US dollar has strengthened against other safe-haven currencies including the yen and Swiss franc.
In addition, the focus in the New York session is on the FOMC minutes published for investors to assess further details of the latest meeting.
Examining the minutes, Federal Reserve (Fed) policymakers unanimously agreed that the US economy is at risk of experiencing a surge in inflation and slow growth.
The Fed is expected to continue to maintain interest rates amid market uncertainty that affects economic forecasts.
Market focus today (Thursday) will be on new indicators through the US consumer price index (CPI) data report which measures the inflation rate in March.
