( )

*

Trump announces new tariffs from October 1

*

Pharmaceutical stocks fall in Asia, most indexes down

*

Fed easing expectations recede on US economic resilience

*

Dollar headed for weekly gain

By Naomi Rovnick and Rae Wee

LONDON, SINGAPORE Sept 26 (Reuters) - Anxiety rippled

across previously buoyant global markets on Friday, as traders

cautiously awaited U.S. inflation data, while fresh White House

tariffs on pharmaceuticals weighed heavily on Asian bourses and

public financing concerns weighed on sterling.

MSCI's index of global stocks headed for its

first weekly loss in four after U.S. President Donald Trump

unveiled 100% duties on imported branded drugs as well as new

tariffs on goods from trucks to kitchen cabinets.

A broad gauge of Asian shares outside Japan

closed 1.4% lower, led by falls in South Korea and Hong

Kong as Japanese stocks closed flat and mainland

Chinese shares lost almost 1%.

Europe's regional STOXX 600 share index traded 0.3%

higher as major European drugmakers like Roche and Novo

Nordisk recovered from initial losses and traders

sought shelter from U.S. interest rate uncertainty in euro zone

assets.

Ahead of the latest reading of the U.S. personal consumption

expenditures (PCE) index later in the day, which functions as a

key component of the Federal Reserve's inflation outlook, euro

zone bonds also outperformed Treasuries.

Wall Street's benchmark S&P 500 share index has notched

up 25 record closing highs over the past three months as rate

cut fervour combined with a wave of fresh enthusiasm for AI

stocks and investors backed out of international markets.

Ahead of U.S. bourses opening for cash trading on Friday

however, futures markets indicated the S&P 500 would trade

sideways and the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 would inch 0.1% lower

, leaving both indexes flat for the week.

FED RATE CUT BETS RECEDE

"You're not getting that scenario where hard economic

data is flowing through to confirm (U.S.) rate cuts," Premier

Miton fund manager Daniel Hughes said.

On Thursday, U.S. second quarter economic growth data was

revised sharply higher to a 3.8% annualised rate, from 3.3%

previously, and a slight drop in weekly jobless claims signaled

the labour market was strengthening.

Germany's 10-year Bund yield, which falls as the price of

the benchmark euro zone debt security rises, was down 2 basis

points (bps) at 2.756% as the equivalent U.S. Treasury yield

was stuck at 4.1736%, close to its highest so far

this month.

After the U.S. central bank lowered borrowing costs by 25 bps

last week, new Fed appointee and Trump ally Stephen Miran

pressed for ongoing cuts to prevent labour market collapse but

multiple other Fed policymakers expressed caution on inflation.

Traders are pricing in about 39 basis points worth of rate

cuts by December, compared to more than 40 bps earlier this

week..

STERLING REMAINS UNDER PRESSURE

Stress in UK markets persisted on Friday as sterling

headed for its biggest weekly decline in two months as

it traded at $1.3348, the lowest level since early August.

UK gilts broke out of their usual negative feedback loop

with sterling, with the yield on the benchmark 10-year UK debt

security dropping 4 bps to 4.729%.

Benchmark UK borrowing costs hit their highest since early

July in the prior session, pressuring the UK's strained public

finances because rising debt yields compromise finance minister

Rachel Reeves' ability to stick to self-imposed fiscal rules.

With the next UK Budget in November analysts are already

speculating about how Reeves may seek out fresh sources of

revenue, with Deutsche Bank analysts on Friday suggesting she

may end a long-term freeze on petrol duties.

This, they said, could be inflationary and would require

"tighter monetary policy that reduces growth."

Elsewhere in markets, the dollar was steady against a

basket of major currencies including the euro and the yen but

was on track for a 0.8% weekly gain and its best performance on

this measure since late July, as Fed rate cut hopes receded.

The yen languished near the 150-per-dollar level

and was headed for a weekly fall of more than 1%, while the euro

last bought $1.1673.

In commodities, Brent crude oil futures headed for a

more than 4% gain on the week, buoyed by robust U.S. growth

data.

Safe haven gold which hit an all-time peak of $3,790

an ounce earlier this week, had drifted back to $3,750 by the

end of the European morning on Friday.