The Australian sharemarket is being caught in the cross-hairs of the escalating trade war between the US and China.

Billions of dollars has been wiped from the value of the ASX as the two superpowers impose new and increased tariffs on imported goods.

Catherine Allfrey, Principal and Portfolio Manager at Wavestone Capital tells Ross Greenwood, “there’s no doubt the impact of this trade war is starting to really bite on the global economy”.

Ms Allfrey says other than the escalating US-China trade war, another variable impacting markets is US President Donald Trump’s condemnation of Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell.

“People don’t like to see criticism by a democratically elected president of what is supposed to be an independent central bank.

 “I would say though, Australia is in a pretty good position.

“Clearly trade is going to make an impact on the Australian economy going forward but we can still see some positive signs in the Australian economy which gives us some confidence in terms of equity markets going forward.”

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