As global financial markets shed trillions in dollars of value, Australians compulsively check their superannuation balances to see how much damage Donald Trump’s trade war is inflicting on their retirement savings. Trump assured the world that “I know what the hell I’m doing”, but investors around the world were panicking. The markets get ‘the yips’On 2 April, Trump declared that his tariffs would “make American wealthy again”. By 8 April, shares on Wall Street had plummeted by 12% over four tempestuous days of trading. Australia’s benchmark S&P/ASX 200 caught some of the exuberance, closing up 4.5% to record its strongest trading day since the pandemic.

Source: The Guardian April 12, 2025 19:43 UTC