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Dollar rallies, stocks retreat after Trump swears tariffs

The dollar rallied versus significant peers on Tuesday after U.S. Presidentelect Donald Trump promised tariffs on all imports from Canada and Mexico, and extra tariffs on China.

Stocks declined, giving back some of the robust gains of the previous session, when they were buoyed by the election of fund manager Scott Bessent as Treasury Secretary, considered by investors as a voice for Wall Street in Washington.

Bessent's appointment had also resulted in a sharp fall in U.S. yields as financiers scooped up Treasury bonds, sending the dollar sliding in the previous session.

The dollar jumped 2% to 20.679 Mexican pesos since 0040 GMT on Tuesday, and climbed 1% to C$ 1.4130. It strengthened 0.3% to 7.2681 yuan in overseas trading.

The U.S. currency added 0.14% to 154.43 yen, while the euro slipped 0.5% to $1.0444.

It's practically as if Trump wants to remind markets who is in control, after nominating Scott Bessent as Treasury Sec - a guy markets expected to cool Trump's strength, said Matt Simpson, senior market expert at City Index.

With the Canadian dollar increasing against the Mexican peso, markets are assuming this will hit Mexico the hardest.

Sterling lost 0.35% to $1.2526, and the Aussie dollar plunged 0.8% to $0.6453.

Australia's stock standard eased 0.36%, a day after increasing to a record high.

Japan's Nikkei lost 1.3% and South Korea's KOSPI alleviated 0.4%.

Chinese markets are due to open shortly.

U.S. S&P 500 futures pointed 0.3% lower following a. 0.3% gain in the money index overnight, when the small-cap. Russell 2000 index also hit an all-time high.

Trump said that on his very first day in workplace he would impose a. 25% tariff on all items from Mexico and Canada, and an. extra 10% tariff on goods from China, citing issues over. unlawful migration and the trade of illicit drugs.

It was simply last month that Trump stated that 'one of the most. lovely word in the dictionary is tariff', so there really. must not have actually been a surprise in Trump's objective, simply in. the timing of the comments, said Sean Callow, a senior FX. analyst at ITC Markets.

The fall in trade-sensitive currencies makes sense, and. must persist near term.

Bitcoin was constant at around $94,111, finding its. feet following a pullback from recently's record high at. $ 99,830. The token has gained from speculation of an easier. regulatory environment for cryptocurrencies under Trump.

(source: Reuters)