Saudi Wealth Fund Cut US Stocks by $3 Billion Last Quarter

Saudi Wealth Fund Cut US Stocks by $3 Billion Last Quarter
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Saudi Wealth Fund Cut US Stocks by $3 Billion Last Quarter

Saudi Wealth Fund Cut US Stocks by $3 Billion Last Quarter

Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund cut its exposure to North American equities by $3 billion in the third quarter, offloading some exchange traded funds (ETF) and stocks including Berkshire Hathaway BRKa.N, a regulatory filing showed.

The Public Investment Fund (PIF) was holding $7.05 billion worth of US equities as of Sept. 30, compared with nearly $10.12 billion in the second quarter, the filing showed late on Monday. The fund cut its holdings of ETFs to $1.96 billion by Sept. 30, from nearly $4.7 billion in the second quarter.

In recent months, the sovereign wealth fund had bulked up minority stakes in companies worldwide, including oil companies, taking advantage of market weakness caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

In the previous quarter, it moved part of those investments into real estate, materials and utilities ETFs. In the third quarter, it was holding only the utilities ETF, Reuters reported.

“In terms of strategy, there has always been a sense that PIF is trying to play catch-up with regional peers, but wants to fast-track the kind of returns that investments by other sovereign funds generated over many years,” said Rachna Uppal, director of research at Azure Strategy, a Middle East-focused consultancy.

The latest filing showed that PIF sold some stocks, including Berkshire Hathaway, Canadian Natural Resources and Cisco Systems in the third quarter, and bought 13 million shares of Novagold Resources.

PIF, which manages $360 billion worth of funds, pursues a two-pronged strategy - building an international portfolio of investments and investing locally in projects that will help reduce Saudi Arabia’s reliance on oil.



China Hits Back at US and Will Raise Tariffs on American Goods from 84% to 125%

An electronic board shows Shanghai and Shenzhen stock indices as people walk on a pedestrian bridge at the Lujiazui financial district in Shanghai, China April 11, 2025. REUTERS/Go Nakamura
An electronic board shows Shanghai and Shenzhen stock indices as people walk on a pedestrian bridge at the Lujiazui financial district in Shanghai, China April 11, 2025. REUTERS/Go Nakamura
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China Hits Back at US and Will Raise Tariffs on American Goods from 84% to 125%

An electronic board shows Shanghai and Shenzhen stock indices as people walk on a pedestrian bridge at the Lujiazui financial district in Shanghai, China April 11, 2025. REUTERS/Go Nakamura
An electronic board shows Shanghai and Shenzhen stock indices as people walk on a pedestrian bridge at the Lujiazui financial district in Shanghai, China April 11, 2025. REUTERS/Go Nakamura

China announced Friday that it will raise tariffs on US goods from 84% to 125% — the latest salvo in an escalating trade war between the world's two largest economies that has rattled markets and raised fears of a global slowdown.

While US President Donald Trump paused import taxes this week for other countries, he raised tariffs on China and they now total 145%. China has denounced the policy as “economic bullying" and promised countermeasures. The new tariffs begin Saturday.

Washington's repeated raising of tariffs “will become a joke in the history of the world economy,” a Chinese Finance Ministry spokesman said in a statement announcing the new tariffs. “However, if the US insists on continuing to substantially infringe on China’s interests, China will resolutely counter and fight to the end.”

China’s Commerce Ministry said it would file another lawsuit with the World Trade Organization against the US tariffs.

“There are no winners in a tariff war,” Chinese leader Xi Jinping said during a meeting with the Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, according to a readout from state broadcaster CCTV. “For more than 70 years, China has always relied on itself ... and hard work for development, never relying on favors from anyone, and not fearing any unreasonable suppression.”

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Friday said China stands firm against Trump’s tariffs not only to defend its own rights and interests but also to “safeguard the common interests of the international community to ensure that humanity is not dragged back into a jungle world where might makes right.”

Wang made the remarks when he met Rafael Mariano Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency in Beijing. Wang said China will “work together with other countries to jointly resist all retrogressive actions in the world.”

Trump's on-again, off-again measures have caused alarm in stock and bond markets and led some to warn that the US could be headed for a recession. There was some relief when Trump paused the tariffs for most countries — but concerns remain since the US and China are the world's No. 1 and No. 2 economies, respectively.

“The risk that this escalating trade war tips the world into a recession is rising as the two largest and most powerful countries in the world continue to punch back with higher and higher tariffs,” Jennifer Lee, a senior economist at BMO Capital markets, wrote Friday. “No one truly knows when this will end.”

Chinese tariffs will affect goods like soybeans, aircrafts and their parts and drugs — all among the country's major imports from the US Beijing, meanwhile, suspended sorghum, poultry and bonemeal imports from some American companies last week, and put more export controls on rare earth minerals, critical for various technologies.

The United States' top imports from China, meanwhile, include electronics, like computers and cell phones, industrial equipment and toys — and consumers and businesses are likely to see prices rise on those products, with tariffs now at 145%.

Trump announced on Wednesday that China would face 125% tariffs, but he did not include a 20% tariff on China tied to its role in fentanyl production.

White House officials hope the import taxes will create more manufacturing jobs by bringing production back to the United States — a politically risky trade-off that could take years to materialize, if at all.