US-China trade tariff tensions flare again, casting doubt on de-escalation. US services PMI slows, and stocks show signs of exhaustion after an initial rally. Gold rebounds amid uncertainty. Our technical analysis covers key market reactions
US-China trade de-escalation optimism fades
Trade tariff tensions flared once again within the US administration. On 23 April, the Wall Street Journal reported that the White House is considering cutting tariffs on Chinese imports by more than 50%. However, US Treasury Secretary Bessent later clarified that President Trump has not made any unilateral offer to roll back tariffs on Chinese products.
On the economic front, the preliminary S&P Global Services PMI dropped to 51.4 in April from 54.4 in March, missing expectations of 52.5. The slowdown in services activity adds to concerns over a potential US economic growth deceleration in the coming quarters.
Earlier optimism over a possible US-China de-escalation has faded. While major US indices, the S&P 500, Nasdaq 100, Dow Jones Industrial Average, and Russell 2000, posted gains of 1.5% to 2.3% on 23 April, they all closed near their session lows. Notably, the S&P 500 and Dow formed bearish “Shooting Star” candlestick patterns after retesting their respective 20-day moving averages, signalling potential exhaustion following two days of gains.
Meanwhile, gold (XAU/USD) rebounded in today’s Asian session with an intraday gain of 1.1% at this time of writing, snapping a two-day losing streak amid growing uncertainty over US trade policy direction.
The latest intraday technical analysis on US Wall Street 30, US Nas 100, Hong Kong 33, Japan 225, Germany 30, EUR/USD, GBP/USD, AUD/USD, USD/JPY, Gold (XAU/USD), and West Texas Oil can be found in our YouTube video above.
