Investors sweat on trade war risk

Vesna PoljakCompanies editor

Updated Mar 4, 2018 – 6.18pm, first published at 5.25pm

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Markets are willing to bet the rumblings of a global trade war are the intended aim of Donald Trump's blustering negotiating tactics, and it will take provocation from Europe or China for tensions to escalate and rock equities.

After Thursday's crunch on Wall Street, shares were mixed on Friday when the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.29 per cent and the S&P 500 added 0.51 per cent. Futures point to Australian stocks rising at the open.