Australian shares set to dive, AUD sinks on global trade war fears

The news: The Australian sharemarket is set to open dramatically lower while the Australian dollar has tumbled against the greenback on fears of an impending recession for the world’s biggest economy amid an escalating global trade war.

The numbers: Updated at 7.25am AEDT:

• ASX futures: down 331 points or 4.29% at 7,388 points
• Wall Street: Dow Jones down 5.50%, S&P 500 down 5.97%, Nasdaq down 5.82%
• Europe: FTSE 100 down 4.95%, CAC 40 down 4.26%, DAX down 4.95%
• Spot gold: down 2.47% to USD3,038.24 per ounce
• Oil prices: Brent down 6.5% to USD65.58/bbl, US WTI down 7.41% to USD61.99/bbl
• AUD: up slightly (0.02%) at 60.01 US cents since the open
• Bitcoin: down 5.09% to USD79,224.38.

The context: Investors are bracing for sharp falls after China retaliated against US President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs by announcing a 34% on all US goods, sharply raising concerns of a global trade war. That prompted a slide in major US stock indices on Friday, putting the Nasdaq Composite in a bear market and the Dow Jones Industrial Average in correction territory. Highlighting the panic among investors, the CBOE Volatility Index, or Wall Street's fear gauge, closed at its highest level since April 2020. JP Morgan said it was forecasting a 60% chance of the global economy entering a recession by year-end, up from 40% previously. The Australian dollar has slid about 5% against the US dollar since Friday’s close to 60.01 US cents.

What to watch: ANZ monthly Australian Job Ads report for March at 11.30am.