One year after US President Donald Trump proclaimed the so-called 'Liberation Day' and triggered an unprecedented trade war, financial markets present a mixed balance, with the Spanish stock market being one of the main beneficiaries of the reorientation of capital towards Europe.
On April 2, 2025, the White House established a base minimum tariff of 10% on all US imports, with reciprocal duties of up to 34% for China and 20% for the European Union (EU). The announcement triggered a selling panic that represented the worst stock market streak since the pandemic, but a year later, the stock markets have managed to digest the initial impact and recover the losses despite the uncertainty over the conflict in Iran in recent weeks.
The IBEX 35, a European leader Among the indices of the Old Continent, the Spanish selective index has signed the highest revaluation of all European squares, with an advance of 32.21% in that year of difference. In addition to this improvement, it has hit all-time highs after reaching 18,496.6 points, which meant a revaluation of almost 40% compared to 'Liberation Day'.
In the rest of the European stock markets, London occupies the second largest advance, 20.04%, followed by 18.56% of Milan. With more modest advances are the German DAX (3.37%) and the French CAC 40 (1.33%), which have also improved their positions compared to a year ago. The 50 largest listed European companies, grouped in the Euro Stoxx 50, have registered a revaluation of 7.75%.
Wall Street and the foreign exchange market On the other side of the Atlantic, the main indices of Wall Street have also overcome the impact of Trump's initial announcement. The Nasdaq, the index of technology companies, has been the selective that has best resisted the onslaught, with an improvement of 25.16%, while the S&P 500 has risen by 16.73% and the Dow Jones, by 10.9%.
This scenario has caused a notable depreciation of the dollar against the single currency: the euro has gained more than 8 cents against the dollar, going from 1.0793 to 1.1619 dollars at the close of the period, although the latest news from the Iran war have devalued the European currency to a little over 1.152 dollars at which it trades this Thursday.
Asia, the big winner The Asian continent registers the highest average revaluation among the major stock market regions, led by a South Korean Kospi that has shattered records by rising 118.64% annually, driven by the technology and logistics sector. It is followed by the Japanese Nikkei 225, which has climbed 50.85%.
This stock market optimism has also fully reached the Chinese squares: the CSI 300 has advanced 16.42%, while the Shanghai index has added 17.92% in the last year. For its part, the Hong Kong Hang Seng presents a more moderate growth of 8.99%.
Precious metals as a refuge Precious metals are another of the investments benefited by the uncertainty generated by the tariff war. The ounce of gold has increased its value by almost 53%, from 3,113 dollars to 4,750 dollars, and at its all-time high, recorded on January 29 at 5,595.47 dollars, it managed to accumulate a revaluation of almost 80%. For its part, silver has risen 122% in the same period, and on January 29, when it touched 121.65 dollars, it more than tripled its value (+261%).
In the opposite direction, bitcoin has lost 20.23% in the last year, falling to 68,000 dollars, which has distanced the crypto asset from its intended role as a store of value in times of uncertainty.
