Concerns about trade wars deepened sales in the markets. Investors are now focused on next week’s US inflation data. Global markets finished the week under selling pressure due to the increased risk perception stemming from tariffs announced by US President Donald Trump and concerns about possible retaliations from other economies. The eyes are now turning to US inflation data to be released next week, as well as the meeting minutes of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) of the Federal Reserve in the US. US inflation figures for March will be announced on Wednesday, March 10. In the country, inflation will decrease from 3% in February to 2.8%. The economic and trade policies pursued by US President Donald Trump under his “America First” policy continued to be a source of uncertainty globally. Countermeasures in this direction have had an impact on market direction. Concerns that tariffs will put pressure on global growth and that increased customs duties will trigger inflation by affecting prices have intensified selling pressure in stock markets due to the high level of risk perception. A LOSS OF 6 TRILLION DOLLARS Last week saw sharp sell-offs in the US stock market. The Dow Jones index lost over 2,200 points yesterday, falling 5.5% to 38,314.86 points. The S&P 500 index dropped by 5.97% to 5,074.08 points, and the Nasdaq index fell by 5.82% to 15,587.79 points. The weekly drops for the indexes were 7.9% for Dow Jones, 9.1% for S&P 500, and 10% for Nasdaq. The sharp fall in the indexes over two days resulted in a loss of over 6 trillion dollars, wiping out approximately 10 trillion dollars from US markets since Trump took office. WILL THE FED CUT RATES? Growing recession concerns in the global economy have affected the interest rate expectations of the Federal Reserve (Fed) in the US. Expectations have strengthened that the Fed will adopt a more aggressive policy of interest rate cuts to support economic growth. In a statement on Friday, Fed Chairman Jerome Powell said, “High tariffs will have an impact on our economy and will likely raise inflation in the coming quarters.” Powell added, “As new policies and their possible economic impacts become clearer, we will better understand their effects on the economy and monetary policy.” Just before Powell’s speech, Trump called for the perfect time to lower interest rates, urging the Fed Chairman to cut rates. Expectations that the Fed will make a total of 4 interest rate cuts by the end of the year in pricing in money markets have strengthened, and it is estimated that the bank will likely reduce its policy rate by 25 basis points with a 75% probability in June.