Stocks slide as tariff and global uncertainties weigh

European and world shares have fallen but are set for a weekly gain and the dollar has pushed the euro off its recent five-month high as investors finish a busy week without much more clarity on the big market questions.

MSCI's all-country world share index was last down 0.21 per cent on Friday, with Europe's STOXX 600 0.8 per cent lower in morning trade after Asian shares had dropped a similar amount earlier in the day.

Wall Street slid overnight, and S&P 500 futures were down about 0.4 per cent.

On the week, however, all are slightly higher, with the mood somewhat less febrile than it was earlier in March when markets were dominated by fear that policy uncertainty in the United States, particularly regarding tariffs, would push the world's largest economy into recession.

While those fears have not gone away, central banks were in the spotlight instead this week and the US Federal Reserve, the Bank of Japan and the Bank of England held rates steady.

Though with the main questions for markets being matters of fiscal and geopolitical policy, policymakers, too, were left with little to say other than to emphasise what Fed chair Jerome Powell called the "unusually elevated" uncertainty.

Investors will now focus on the details of the Trump administration's April 2 reciprocal tariffs, which remain unclear, while reports of Israeli air strikes on Gaza and a huge blast from a Ukrainian drone attack on a Russian military airfield were a reminder of rising geopolitical tensions pushing investors towards safe-haven assets.

On top of that, Britain's Heathrow Airport was shut after a huge fire at a nearby electrical substation, investors are reassessing bets on Turkey's turnaround story after the detention of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's main political rival, and with Germany's massive fiscal splurge set to pass the country's parliament on Friday, the focus is turning to how quickly and where the money will be spent.

That tectonic shift in Germany alongside fears of the US recession have caused a dramatic shift in markets, with shares in Europe and Asia outperforming the US, particularly once loved tech stocks, and the euro surging.

While those moves slowed this week, many analysts think the shift will continue.

The dramatic recent moves in currencies, which have seen the dollar weaken against most peers with the euro and Japanese yen standing out, also have been calmer in recent days.

The euro was at US1.0835 , down marginally on the day and the week, but after finishing February at $US1.0375 and hitting a five-month high of $US1.0955 earlier this week the bigger picture narrative is still one of euro strength.

Likewise, the yen was weaker on the day at 149.50 per dollar.

Still, the yen is up five per cent in 2025 on expectations that the Bank of Japan will hike rates again amid signs of broadening price pressures.

Oil prices were broadly steady, poised for their strongest weekly performance since January.

Brent crude futures climbed 0.1 per cent, to $US72.06 a barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate crude futures were down 0.15 per cent at $US67.97. Both were set for two per cent gains for the week.

Gold eased 0.5 per cent to $US3,030 an ounce as investors booked profits after the yellow metal climbed to a record high in the previous session.