Saudi Press

Saudi Arabia and the world
Thursday, Oct 02, 2025

Conflicting Trade Signals Rocked Markets With Three Hours of Chaos

Conflicting Trade Signals Rocked Markets With Three Hours of Chaos

Even for investors hardened by more than a year of trade-war headlines, it’s been a chaotic few hours.Conflicting signals on the prospects for a deal between the U.S. and China sent S&P 500 futures on one of their wildest rides in recent memory, triggering four 1%-plus swings in contracts
Shortly after U.S. stock markets closed with gains amid optimism about trade talks on Wednesday, S&P 500 futures began tanking on a South China Morning Post report that deputy-level discussions had made “no progress” and that principal Chinese negotiators might cut short their stay.

The market rallied on separate reports that top Chinese envoy Liu He would remain in Washington through Friday, then turned lower on another wave of selling. The next rebound came on news that the White House may roll out a previously agreed currency pact with China as part of a deal that could also suspend a planned tariff increase next week.

By 8:18 a.m. in London, S&P 500 futures were almost back to where they started. The yen, oil, gold and Treasury futures saw similar fluctuations.

Read more: Treasuries Trading Electrified in Asia by Trade Confusion

Investor nervousness has increased against a backdrop of deteriorating economic data and escalating tensions between the U.S. in China.

On Monday, the Trump administration moved to blacklist Chinese tech firms including video-surveillance company Hangzhou Hikvision Digital Technology Co., alleging that they were complicit in human-rights violations in Xinjiang. U.S. officials are also reportedly moving ahead with discussions around possible restrictions on portfolio flows into China. A fight over free speech between China and the NBA, triggered by a tweet backing Hong Kong’s protesters, has added to the tense mood.

“Overall the market is pretty on the edge as we’ve seen bigger negative reactions toward trade news,” said Mingze Wu, a foreign-exchange trader at INTL FCStone Global Payments in Singapore.

Some investors have responded by adding hedges, helping push the Cboe Volatility Index, or VIX, steadily higher since late September. October futures on the index rose 2.3% on Thursday.

“The difficulty in predicting the final outcome of the trade dispute poses a challenge for investors,” Mark Haefele, global chief investment officer at UBS Wealth Management, wrote in a note on Wednesday. “Not even the negotiators themselves can yet be confident of the final result.”

(Updates markets in eighth and 12th paragraphs.)

--With assistance from Jenny Leonard, Ruth Carson and Stephen Spratt.

To contact the reporter on this story: Joanna Ossinger in Singapore at jossinger@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Christopher Anstey at canstey@bloomberg.net, Michael Patterson
Newsletter

Related Articles

Saudi Press
0:00
0:00
Close
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
Nvidia and Abu Dhabi’s TII Launch First AI-&-Robotics Lab in the Middle East
UK, Canada, and Australia Officially Recognise Palestine in Historic Shift
New Eye Drops Show Promise in Replacing Reading Glasses for Presbyopia
Dubai Property Boom Shows Strain as Flippers Get Buyer’s Remorse
Top AI Researchers Are Heading Back to China as U.S. Struggles to Keep Pace
JWST Data Brings TRAPPIST-1e Closer to Earth-Like Habitability
UAE-US Stargate Project Poised to Make Abu Dhabi a Global AI Powerhouse
Trump and Starmer Clash Over UK Recognition of Palestinian State Amid State Visit
Saudi Arabia cracks down on music ‘lounges’ after conservative backlash
Saudi Arabia Signs ‘Strategic Mutual Defence’ Pact with Pakistan, Marking First Arab State to Gain Indirect Access to Nuclear Strike Capabilities in the Region
Sam Altman sells the 'Wedding Estate' in Hawaii for 49 million dollars
Turkish car manufacturer Togg Enters German Market with 5-Star Electric Sedan and SUV to Challenge European EV Brands
World’s Longest Direct Flight China Eastern to Launch 29-Hour Shanghai–Buenos Aires Direct Flight via Auckland in December
New OpenAI Study Finds Majority of ChatGPT Use Is Personal, Not Professional
Kuwait opens bidding for construction of three cities to ease housing crunch.
This Week in AI: Meta’s Superintelligence Push, xAI’s Ten Billion-Dollar Raise, Genesis AI’s Robotics Ambitions, Microsoft Restructuring, Amazon’s Million-Robot Milestone, and Google’s AlphaGenome Update
Indian Student Engineers Propose “Project REBIRTH” to Protect Aircraft from Crashes Using AI, Airbags and Smart Materials
Could AI Nursing Robots Help Healthcare Staffing Shortages?
Turkish authorities seize leading broadcaster amid fraud and tax investigation
Qatari prime minister says Netanyahu ‘killed any hope’ for Israeli hostages
Apple Introduces Ultra-Thin iPhone Air, Enhanced 17 Series and New Health-Focused Wearables
Big Oil Slashes Jobs and Investments Amid Prolonged Low Crude Prices
Social Media Access Curtailed in Turkey After CHP Calls for Rallies Following Police Blockade of Istanbul Headquarters
Did the Houthis disrupt the internet in the Middle East? Submarine cables cut in the Red Sea
Gold Could Reach Nearly $5,000 if Fed Independence Is Undermined, Goldman Sachs Warns
Uruguay, Colombia and Paraguay Secure Places at 2026 World Cup
Trump Administration Advances Plans to Rebrand Pentagon as Department of War Instead of the Fake Term Department of Defense
Tether Expands into Gold Sector with Profit-Driven Diversification
Trump’s New War – and the ‘Drug Tyrant’ Fearing Invasion: ‘1,200 Missiles Aimed at Us’
At the Parade in China: Laser Weapons, 'Eagle Strike,' and a Missile Capable of 'Striking Anywhere in the World'
Information Warfare in the Age of AI: How Language Models Become Targets and Tools
Israeli Airstrike in Yemen Kills Houthi Prime Minister
After the Shock of Defeat, Iranians Yearn for Change
YouTube Altered Content by Artificial Intelligence – Without Permission
Iran Faces Escalating Water Crisis as Protests Spread
More Than Half a Million Evacuated as Typhoon Kajiki Heads for Vietnam
HSBC Switzerland Ends Relationships with Over 1,000 Clients from Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Qatar, and Egypt
Sharia Law Made Legally Binding in Austria Despite Warnings Over 'Incompatible' Values
Dogfights in the Skies: Airbus on Track to Overtake Boeing and Claim Aviation Supremacy
Tim Cook Promises an AI Revolution at Apple: "One of the Most Significant Technologies of Our Generation"
Are AI Data Centres the Infrastructure of the Future or the Next Crisis?
Miles Worth Billions: How Airlines Generate Huge Profits
Zelenskyy Returns to White House Flanked by European Allies as Trump Pressures Land-Swap Deal with Putin
Beijing is moving into gold and other assets, diversifying away from the dollar
Cristiano Ronaldo Makes Surprise Stop at New Hong Kong Museum
Zelenskyy to Visit Washington after Trump–Putin Summit Yields No Agreement
×