By James Van Straten (All times ET unless indicated otherwise)
As trade tensions intensify, Asian and European markets have continued to feel the effects, extending declines that were initiated in the previous week. Japan’s Nikkei 225 plummeted by 4%, entering correction territory after a drop of over 10% from its record high. European indices, including the FTSE 100, DAX, and CAC 40, opened lower, reflecting concerns shared with falling U.S. stock futures.
The current situation is largely driven by President Donald Trump’s imminent announcement set for April 2, which he has termed “Liberation Day.” He plans to levy tariffs on countries perceived to maintain unfair trade relationships with the U.S. While Trump indicated that tariffs would initially apply across the board, there is room for negotiations with individual countries.
This past Friday, U.S. equities displayed significant weakness, exacerbated by a core PCE inflation reading that came in hotter than expected. Market anxiety is likely to persist, especially with the U.S. jobs report due this Friday. Projections indicate an unemployment rate increase to 4.2%, with nonfarm payrolls expected to decline to 128,000 from 151,000 in the prior month.
In the face of this uncertainty, gold is on an upswing, reaching an unprecedented high of $3,100 per ounce—a rise of 1.2% for the day and nearly 20% year-to-date. Conversely, bitcoin (BTC) continues its struggles, floating just above $80,000, which represents a decline of over 3% this month and 12% for the quarter, marking its most disappointing performance since Q4 2022.
Ether (ETH), meanwhile, has fared even worse, losing 46% this quarter, the steepest decline since 2018. Consequently, the ratio of ether to bitcoin has plummeted to 0.02195, its lowest since May 2020, when bitcoin traded below $10,000 and ether was slightly over $200. Investors are urged to stay vigilant.
What to Watch
Crypto Events:
March 31: The dKargo (DKA) testnet will be going live.
March 31: The Keeta (KTA) testnet will be going live.
March 31: PinLink (PIN), a RWA-tokenized DePIN platform, will launch on the Ethereum mainnet.
March 31: Terraform Labs will open the Crypto Loss Claims Portal due to the collapse of LUNA and UST tokens. Claims must be submitted by 11:59 p.m. on April 30.
April 1: Following a 10-for-1 stock split, Metaplanet (3350) will take effect.
April 1: ONINO (ONI) is set for its mainnet launch.
April 2: XIONMarkets (XION) will have its mainnet launch.
April 5: Recognizing the alleged birthday of Satoshi Nakamoto.
Macro Dates to Note:
April 1, 4:30 a.m.: U.K. March producer price index (PPI) to be released.
April 1, 5:00 a.m.: Eurozone March consumer price index (CPI) data will be published.
April 1, 9:00 a.m.: Brazil’s March purchasing managers’ index (PMI) data to be released.
April 1, 10:00 a.m.: U.S. Department of Labor will release its February JOLTs report.
April 1, 10:00 a.m.: ISM’s March U.S. manufacturing sector data will be made available.
April 2: The Trump administration’s reciprocal tariffs plan will officially take effect together with a 25% tariff on imports of automobiles and associated parts.
Token Events:
Governance votes & calls include Arbitrum DAO’s proposals for fund management and Sky DAO’s discussions on the Smart Burn Engine rate. Key deadlines loom on March 31 and April 3, respectively.
[The rest of the content on token events, market conditions, crypto equities, and ETF flows can be elaborated here according to relevance.]
Stay tuned as we navigate these developing stories that have significant implications for markets worldwide.
