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Pound (GBPUSD=X, GBPEUR=X)
The pound climbed 0.4% against the dollar on Tuesday, rallying above the $1.29 mark as markets digest fears of a possible impending US recession.
Traders are becoming increasingly anxious about how president Donald Trump's bevvy of policy decisions will play out in the coming months.
US import tariffs have been top of mind in the last few weeks as Trump signed executive orders to ramp up levies on Canada, Mexico and China, as well as laying out plans for reciprocal tariffs globally.
The shake-up has come as Trump ducked questions about possible inflationary policies or the potential for a recession for the world's largest economy. He warned of a "period of transition".
The dollar index (DX-Y.NYB), which tracks the greenback against a basket of currencies fell 0.5%. Over the last five sessions it has declined nearly 2.2%, and for the year-to-date it is 4.6% lower.
Read more: FTSE 100 LIVE: London lower after Nasdaq's worst day since 2022 amid US recession fears
The pound fell against the euro, meanwhile, sitting below the 1.19 mark. Tuesday's session saw declines of around 0.2% in early trade.
The Eurozone currency strengthened on hopes of a deal for German defence spending, as Europe continues to grapple with a response to the latest moves in supporting Ukraine against Russia.
Gold (GC=F)
A flight to haven assets in the face of uncertainty boosted gold prices on Tuesday, with futures rallying 0.5% to around the $2,915 an ounce mark, and spot prices heading 0.8% into the green to trade around $2,910.
Ongoing worry about president Donald Trump's next moves has bolstered the yellow metal, which rallied while US indices lost ground.
The Nasdaq (^IXIC) closed 4% lower on Monday as portfolios shifted away from riskier tech stocks.
Read more: Trending tickers: Tesla, Nvidia, Novo Nordisk, Volkswagen and Persimmon
"Two key policy levers are being pulled and the American economy is not the beneficiary in the short term at least," said Neil Wilson, analyst at TipRanks.
"One is tariffs, the other is DOGE. Spending cuts, or at least talked-about spending cuts, are exposing the underlying weakness in the US economy; that the ‘strength’ of the Biden economy was built entirely on spend, spend, spend economics."
Oil (BZ=F, CL=F)
Oil prices ticked upwards on Tuesday, paring losses made earlier in the week, even as concerns about a US recession rumble and commodities traders look to OPEC+ for its next moves.
The cartel has signalled that it will ramp up production slowly in the coming months, with Russia's deputy prime minister Alexander Novak saying on Friday that a ramp up will start in April, but will ultimately depend on how the market supply and demand shakes out.