By Jonathan Saul, Lisa Baertlein, David Lawder and Andrea Shalal

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The Trump administration shielded on Thursday domestic exporters and vessel owners servicing the Great Lakes, the Caribbean and U.S. territories from port fees to be levied on China-built vessels, aiming to revive U.S. shipbuilding and counter China’s maritime dominance.

The Federal Register notice posted by the U.S. Trade Representative was watered down from a February proposal for fees on China-built ships of up to $1.5 million per port call that sent a chill through the global shipping industry.

Ocean shipping executives feared virtually every carrier could face stacking fees that made U.S. export prices unattractive and foisted annual import costs of $30 billion on American consumers.

"Ships and shipping are vital to American economic security and the free flow of commerce," U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said in a statement.

"The Trump administration’s actions will begin to reverse Chinese dominance, address threats to the U.S. supply chain, and send a demand signal for U.S.-built ships."

Still, the fees on Chinese-built ships add another irritant to swiftly rising trade tension between the world’s two largest economies as President Donald Trump seeks to draw China into talks on his new tariffs of 145% on many of its goods.

The revisions tackle major concerns voiced in a tsunami of opposition from the global maritime industry, including domestic port and vessel operators as well as U.S. shippers of everything from coal and corn to bananas and concrete.

They grant some requested carve-outs, while phasing in fees that reflect the fact U.S. shipbuilders, which turn out about five vessels annually, will need several years to compete with China’s output of more than 1,700 a year.

In February 2025, Canadian investors increased their holdings in foreign securities, with a record investment in US equity securities, according to a report by Statistics Canada. A total of $27.2 billion was invested, a significant increase from the $3.0 billion divestment seen in January. The investment was primarily concentrated in US shares, particularly in large capitalization technology and financial firms.

This surge in investment was led by an unprecedented acquisition of $29.8 billion in US shares, the largest since December 2023. This was slightly offset by the sale of $2.0 billion in non-US shares. Despite reaching an all-time high in mid-February, the Standard and Poor’s (NYSE:SPY) (S&P) 500 composite index was down by 1.4% by the end of the month.

However, Canadian investors decreased their exposure to foreign debt securities by $0.7 billion in February. While there was an increase in holdings of US government money market instruments and US corporate bonds, there was a decrease in holdings of US government bonds and non-US foreign debt instruments.

On the other hand, foreign investors decreased their holdings in Canadian securities by $6.5 billion in February, marking the first divestment in 12 months. This was led by a reduction of $21.9 billion in Canadian shares, the highest monthly divestment since October 2007. The industries most affected by this reduction were management of companies and enterprises, manufacturing, and energy and mining. The S&P/Toronto Stock Exchange composite index saw a slight decrease in February.

Despite the divestment in Canadian shares, non-resident investors increased their exposure to Canadian bonds by $9.9 billion, although this was a decrease from the $33.5 billion investment in the previous month. There was also an increase in exposure to Canadian money market instruments by $5.6 billion, following a significant divestment in January.

The activities in the Canadian bond market in February were characterized by foreign acquisitions of $19.2 billion of corporate bonds, which were offset by divestments of $6.4 billion in federal government bonds and $2.9 billion in provincial government bonds. The foreign investment in Canadian money market instruments targeted private corporate paper, with an increase of $7.3 billion, and provincial governments paper, with an increase of $1.9 billion.

The S&P 500 closed slightly Thursday after giving up the bulk of gains as ongoing tariff uncertainty prompted profit taking in a holiday-shortened week. 

At 4:00 p.m. ET (21:00 GMT), the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 527 points, or 1.3%, while the S&P 500 index gained 0.2%, and the NASDAQ Composite fell 0.1%. Markets will be closed on Friday to observe the Good Friday holiday.

The major U.S. indexes are all heading for a weekly decline, with the Nasdaq Composite very close to bear market territory.

Unitedhealth cuts profit forecast; Google in legal setback

There were more quarterly corporate earnings to digest Thursday, headlined by hefty losses by Unitedhealth, the largest U.S. health insurance company. Its stock dropped 22% after the health insurer cut its annual profit forecast in anticipation of higher-than-expected medical costs.

Elsewhere, Eli Lilly (NYSE:LLY) stock rose 14% after the drugmaker disclosed positive Phase 3 trial results for orforglipron, a pioneering oral medication for type 2 diabetes.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) stock rose 0.8% after the asset manager reported a higher-than-expected profit for the first quarter, driven by proceeds from asset sales across its private equity and credit businesses.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (NYSE:TSM) stock gave up gains to close marginally higher after the world’s largest contract chipmaker posted a 60% jump in first-quarter net profit, helped by surging demand for semiconductors used in artificial intelligence applications.

Hertz Global Holdings (OTC:HTZGQ) Inc (NASDAQ:HTZ) added to its 56% gain from a day earlier after Bill Ackman’s Pershing Square become the second-largest shareholder in the car rental company.  

(Reuters) - European shares were mixed on Thursday as investors parsed corporate earnings to gauge the fallout of U.S. President Donald Trump’s erratic trade policies, while awaiting European Central Bank’s policy decision later in the day.

The pan-European STOXX 600 index edged lower 0.4%, as of 0712 GMT, with no major escalations in the trade war helping the index climb 4% this week.

Investors also shied away from making big bets ahead of a four-day-long weekend on account of Good Friday and Easter Monday.

France’s Hermes fell 4% after the Birkin bag maker posted a rare quarterly sales miss, joining rival LVMH, which also reported sales below expectations earlier this week.

Tit-for-tat tariffs sparked by Trump’s multi-front trade war have dimmed the global growth outlook in recent weeks, triggering market volatility reminiscent of the COVID-19-driven slump in March 2020.

ECB’s rate decision is scheduled for 1215 GMT, with markets seeing a rate cut as all-but-certain to cushion a struggling economy from tariff uncertainty.

Siemens (ETR:SIEGn) Energy jumped 10% after the German energy group raised its outlook for the current fiscal year after posting its best profit margin since being spun off from Siemens.

The stock helped Germany’s benchmark index outperform its European counterparts.

Asian stocks rebounded on Thursday amid hopes of U.S. tariff negotiations, while focus was squarely on Bank of Korea’s interest rate decision, Japanese trade data and Australia’s jobs report.

In corporate news, investors awaited Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (TSMC) (TW:2330) first-quarter earnings due later in the day, to gauge the health of the chip manufacturing industry.

Major U.S stock indexes closed sharply lower on Wednesday, while futures tied to these benchmark indexes rose in Asian trading on Thursday.

US, Japan open tariff negotiations; China open to talks

U.S. President Donald Trump said “big progress” was made during a meeting with a Japanese trade delegation in Washington on Wednesday, as the two nations opened talks aimed at resolving tensions over a wave of U.S. tariffs.

The talks mark the start of formal negotiations to reach a bilateral trade deal amid growing concerns over the economic fallout from U.S. tariffs.

Additionally, a Bloomberg report on Wednesday showed that China is open to beginning trade talks with the Trump administration, but is demanding that the White House show more respect.

These developments alleviated some concerns, although investors still remained on edge.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 led gains with a 1.1% jump. The broader TOPIX index also added 1%.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.5%, while Singapore’s Straits Times Index gained 0.6%

China’s Shanghai Composite edged 0.2% higher, while the Shanghai Shenzhen CSI 300 was largely muted.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index jumped 1.7%.

India’s Nifty 50 opened 0.4% lower.

BOK holds interest rates steady, KOSPI higher

The Bank of Korea (BOK) on Thursday maintained its benchmark interest rate at 2.75%, aligning with market expectations. 

This decision reflects the central bank’s cautious approach amid escalating global trade tensions.

The central bank indicated a potential rate cut as early as May in response to escalating economic risks from U.S. President Donald Trump’s aggressive tariff measures. 

South Korea’s KOSPI advanced 0.7%, in line with broader Asian markets.

Japan exports rise, Australia’s job market rebounds in March

Data on Thursday showed that Japan’s exports rose for a sixth consecutive month in March, driven by companies rushing shipments ahead of potential U.S. tariffs announced on April 2.

Exports grew 3.9% year-on-year, below the 4.5% forecast and easing from February’s 11.4% gain.

In Australia, data showed that the country’s labor market remained hot with a rebound in employment and a slightly higher unemployment rate.

The total number of employed people rose by 32,200 in March, in contrast with a 52,800 decline in February.

The unemployment rate rose to 4.1% in January, from 4.0% in Feb, but was below forecasts of a 4.2% growth.

By Cynthia Kim and Jihoon Lee

SEOUL (Reuters) -South Korea’s central bank on Thursday signalled it would cut rates in May and left the door wide open to further monetary easing to cope with "significant" risks to the economy from U.S. President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariff policy.

After the Bank of Korea’s seven-member board held the benchmark interest rate at 2.75% as expected at its monetary policy review earlier in the day, Governor Rhee Chang-yong emphasised the BOK’s readiness to respond to economic uncertainties.

"Leaving me aside, all six board members are open to an interest rate cut when we look at the policy path for the three months ahead," Rhee said at a press conference.

The governor’s remarks highlight a rapidly changing global environment after the BOK’s policy statement earlier warned of a possible economic contraction in the first quarter, largely due to the worst wildfires on record as well as domestic political turmoil.

Much of the focus was on the global trade shock unleashed by the Trump administration.

"The downside risks to growth have expanded significantly," Rhee told reporters, and "given that the intensity of the U.S. tariff policy and the responses of major countries are changing rapidly in the short term, we believe that the uncertainty about the future growth path is so great that it is difficult to even set a basic scenario."

The BOK meeting comes hours after U.S. Federal Reserve chief Jerome Powell disappointed investors by pushing back on hopes he would act quickly to sooth investor fears, and as the Bank of Canada on Wednesday kept its policy rates steady amid the uncertainty around U.S. tariffs.

Recent speculation that China and Japan were dumping U.S. Treasuries took a hit on Wednesday after a report from the U.S Treasury Department showed that foreign holdings of Treasuries actually rose 3.4% in February.

Both China and Japan increased their holdings in the month.

Japan remained the largest holder and increased its holdings by 4% to $1.1259 trillion.  China raised its holdings by 3% to $784.3 billion.  China remained the second-largest foreign holder.

In all, foreign holdings of U.S. treasuries stood at $8.8172 trillion at the end of February.

Rumors that China or Japan was dumping treasuries kicked into high gear in April, after President Trump’s larger-than-expected reciprocal tariffs were enacted, so they could still prove true. However, today’s new data shows that both countries were increasing their U.S. debt exposure going into the tariffs.

China has retaliated against the U.S. reciprocal tariffs, while Japan has not.

The U.S has a 125% reciprocal tariff on China in addition to the 20% tariff to address the fentanyl crisis.  If you included section 301 tariffs on specific goods from China, tariffs reach as high as 245% on imports from the country.

Japan currently faces a 24% reciprocal tariff from the U.S. and will be one of the first countries with which the Trump administration will engage in trade talks.

Trump revealed that Japan is coming today to negotiate tariffs, and the President will attend the meeting.

“Japan is coming in today to negotiate Tariffs, the cost of military support, and “TRADE FAIRNESS.” I will attend the meeting, along with Treasury & Commerce Secretaries,” Trump said on Truth Social. “Hopefully something can be worked out which is good (GREAT!) for Japan and the USA!”

The data could indicate that the Asian countries want to show goodwill toward the U.S. and President Trump ahead of potential tariff negotiations by raising their treasury holdings rather than decreasing them.

By Caroline Valetkevitch

NEW YORK (Reuters) -U.S. stocks ended sharply lower on Wednesday as Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA) warned about steep charges from new U.S. curbs on its chip exports to China and Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said U.S. economic growth appears to be slowing.

Powell, in remarks for the Economic Club of Chicago, said larger-than-expected tariffs likely mean higher inflation and slower growth. But he said the Fed would wait for more data on the economy’s direction before making any changes to interest rates.

The Fed chair’s afternoon comments sparked further selling in stocks, which had already been under pressure from a sharp drop in shares of Nvidia and other chipmakers.

"Powell is confirming what investors have been worried about, and that is the likelihood of slowing economic growth and more stubborn inflation as a result of the tariffs," said Sam Stovall, chief investment strategist at CFRA Research.

Nvidia said late on Tuesday it would take $5.5 billion in charges after the U.S. government limited exports of its H20 artificial-intelligence chip to China, a key market for one of its most popular chips.

It was among the latest developments in the U.S.-China trade fight. China raised its tariffs on imports of U.S. goods to 125% on Friday in a retaliatory move after U.S. President Donald Trump effectively raised U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods to 145%.

"The markets and investors want certainty and of this much I am certain: this year will be a more difficult year for investors than the last two cake walks," said Gina Bolvin, president of Bolvin Wealth Management Group in Boston.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 699.57 points, or 1.73%, to 39,669.39, the S&P 500 lost 120.93 points, or 2.24%, to 5,275.70 and the Nasdaq Composite lost 516.01 points, or 3.07%, to 16,307.16.

The Nasdaq had fallen as low as 16,066.46 during the session.

At the same time, Wall Street’s fear gauge, the Cboe Volatility index, rose, ending the day at 32.64.

Nvidia shares fell 6.9% on the day, while an index of semiconductor stocks dropped 4.1%. The new U.S. curbs also affected AMD (NASDAQ:AMD), whose shares fell 7.3%.

Also on Wednesday, Dutch chip-making tools giant ASML (AS:ASML) warned that the tariffs had led to increased uncertainty about its outlook.

"Markets continue to digest tariff implementation details that remain fluid, and as a result investors’, businesses’ and consumer uncertainty just remains incredibly high," said Bill Northey, senior investment director at U.S. Bank Wealth Management in Billings, Montana.

"Companies are beginning to cite impacts from tariffs and the generally negative implications that that uncertainty is breeding," he said.

Declining issues outnumbered advancers by a 1.58-to-1 ratio on the NYSE. On the Nasdaq, 1,469 stocks rose and 2,964 fell as declining issues outnumbered advancers by a 2.02-to-1 ratio.

Volume on U.S. exchanges was 16.08 billion shares, compared with the more than 18 billion average for the full session over the last 20 trading days.

Gold prices hit a record high in Asian trade on Wednesday, benefiting from sustained safe haven demand as markets fretted over U.S.-China trade tensions and an impairment warning from Nvidia. 

The yellow metal was also aided by weakness in the dollar, as investors dumped U.S. Treasuries amid heightened uncertainty over the U.S. economy under President Donald Trump.

Spot gold jumped 1.7% to a record high of $3,283.63 an ounce, while gold futures expiring in June hit a peak of $3,299.52/oz. 

Gold upbeat as US trade jitters persist

Gold benefited from sustained safe haven demand as investors remained on edge over Trump’s plans to impose even more trade tariffs. Trump earlier this week said he was considering separate tariffs on electronics imports, and will also announce tariffs on pharmaceuticals soon.

This came as Trump dialed up trade pressure on China with a cumulative, 145% levy. China retaliated with a 125% tariff on U.S. imports. 

But Trump’s administration signaled that electronics were exempt from his 145% levy on China, while Trump also recently announced a 90-day exemption from his reciprocal tariffs on other countries.

This left markets uncertain over the U.S. president’s plans for more tariffs, keeping them biased largely towards safe haven assets such as gold and the Japanese yen. 

 Nvidia warning adds to trade concerns, sparks tech losses 

Market darling NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) warned on Tuesday that it faces a $5.5 billion impairment in its first-quarter earnings from new U.S. restrictions on chip exports to China.

The move could potentially block Nvidia and its chipmaking peers from selling to China, which is otherwise a major chip market. This notion sparked steep aftermarket losses in U.S. stock futures, while major tech shares in Asia also sank, reflecting more risk aversion. 

The restrictions also stand to potentially further block Chinese companies from access to AI development, and could draw more retaliatory measures from Beijing.

Other precious metals were mixed amid heightened risk aversion. Platinum futures fell 0.1% to $968.95/oz, while silver futures rose 0.5% to $32.455/oz.

Copper slips despite strong China GDP

Among industrial metals, copper prices fell even as top import China clocked stronger-than-expected gross domestic product growth in the first quarter.

But optimism over the reading was sullied by expectations of weaker GDP prints in the coming quarters, which are likely to reflect the impact of a U.S.-China trade war. 

Benchmark copper futures on the London Metal Exchange fell 0.6% to $9,108.85 a ton, while U.S. copper futures fell 0.5% to $4.5920 a pound.

BEIJING (Reuters) -China appointed as its new trade negotiator on Wednesday a former representative to the World Trade Organization who replaces Vice Commerce Minister Wang Shouwen, amid an escalating tariff war with the United States.

Li Chenggang, 58, a former assistant commerce minister during the first administration of U.S. President Donald Trump, takes over from Wang, 59, the human resources and social security ministry said in a statement.

The change comes as Beijing pursues a hardline stance in an intensifying trade war with Washington triggered by Trump’s hefty tariffs on items imported from China.

Li, who has held several key jobs in the commerce ministry, such as in departments overseeing treaties and law and fair trade, has an academic background in the elite Peking University and Germany’s Hamburg University.

He replaces Wang, a veteran commerce official and top trade negotiator since 2022.

In the leadup to the U.S. tariff escalation, Wang welcomed foreign executives in Beijing, some from PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP), Visa (NYSE:V), P&G, Rio Tinto (NYSE:RIO) and Vale, reassuring them of China’s economic prospects.

The step came after official data showed foreign direct investment plummeted 27.1% in local currency terms in 2024 on the year, for its largest such drop since the 2008 global financial crisis.