'Mass uncertainty' on ASX as five-day win streak is broken

In a recent article in The Australian discussing the impact of US President Donald Trump's tariffs on the sharemarket, moomoo market analyst Jessica Amir stated: "Markets are bracing for a bear market now and that is on the notion that we could see a repeat of what we saw in the first Trump trade war (in Trump's 2018 term). We might be seeing a larger pullback of say 15 per cent like we saw in 2018."

The introduction of new tariffs on car imports by President Trump ignited investor concerns. Jessica added "one day ago (Trump) said he was going to impose tariffs on autos, and then a day later, he confirmed they would come into effect".

This market uncertainty led the Australian share market to fall 7.8% from its historical high. Jessica further noted Trump "has previously dangled the carrot that we could see tariffs on US chip stocks which would cause Nasdaq-100 companies to fall significantly because they need to adjust for higher costs".

As a result, investors are abandoning expensive tech stocks, negatively impacting the sector: WiseTech dropped 2.04% to $83.66, Xero fell 0.31% to $159.14, and NEXTDC plummeted 6.46% to $12.01.

Automotive stocks were also hit hard: Eagers Automotive fell 2.67% to $15.66, CAR Group dropped 2.44% to $32.80, and ARB Corporation declined 2.02% to $33.41.

Jessica emphasised it basically means short term pain as it "doesn't mean the market will stay low for the rest of the year".

The decline may also present a buying opportunity for long-term investors.

"We don't know where we're going yet, we won't know until April 2" when the significance of 'Liberation Day', meaning the full scale of President Trump's tariffs, will be revealed.

Click the link to read the article：ASX200 slipped on Thursday after Trump announced tariffs on auto imports | The Australian