Despite some lingering policy uncertainty and frequent back and forth on tariff developments, financial markets carried the positive momentum from the middle of the second quarter into the third quarter.

Q2 began on a decidedly negative note as investors struggled to come to grips with the U.S. administration’s exceedingly aggressive tariff agenda that appeared to signal an appetite for a trade war. Financial markets clearly disapproved and quickly retrenched. Whether in response to market forces, or at the behest of more moderate voices, a seeming rethink on at least tariff messaging was a welcome development.