Bonds & Stocks
Asian stocks notched up small gains as investors largely adopted a wait-and-watch approach on tariff negotiations before taking long-term bets. The Nikkei-225 gauge in Japan advanced 1%. Shares in mainland China were little changed, paring earlier losses that were caused by a US plan to impose levies on Chinese vessels docking at its ports.
Economy
The S&P 500 Index has settled into an uneasy calm after a period of high volatility, but there is a sense of foreboding on Wall Street that the calm won't last. Despite recent earnings reports showing a resilient US economy, there is uncertainty about where profits are headed, and Wall Street strategists are ratcheting down expectations for US equities.
World
The Trump administration took steps to impose levies on Chinese vessels docking at US ports, threatening to shake up global shipping routes and escalate the trade war between the world’s two biggest economies. Under a plan put forward by the US Trade Representative on Thursday, all Chinese-built and -owned ships docking in the US would be subject to a fee based on the volume of goods carried, on a per-voyage basis.