Meanwhile the economic data is poor and going to get a lot worse as the “TRUMP recession” escalates and US consumer spending falls due to higher tariff induced prices. The March ISM manufacturing activity survey for the US, released on Tuesday night, fell from 50.3 to 49 points. But the drop would have been bigger without the 3.5-point jump in the inventories index, which presumably reflects some stockpiling by firms. More worrying was the plunge in the sub-index of new orders, which fell from 48.6 points to 45.4 points, the lowest since March 2020
