A look at the day ahead in European and global markets from Tom

Westbrook

The surging Taiwan dollar was the big mover in a

holiday-thinned Asia session, kicking off a busy week of central

bank decisions, key economic data and investors coming to grips

with Warren Buffett's departure from the top of Berkshire

Hathaway ( BRK/A ).

U.S. President Donald Trump announced a 100% tariff on

movies produced outside the U.S., ordered the reopening of the

infamous Alcatraz prison in San Francisco Bay and reiterated his

belief that China is open to cutting a trade deal.

The Taiwan dollar leapt to an almost three-year high in its

second consecutive session of outsized gains, fuelling

speculation that some Asian countries were prepared to engineer

foreign exchange revaluations to win U.S. trade concessions.

The Taiwan dollar does not have an official peg but the

central bank does intervene as and when needed to ensure the

currency's "dynamic stability". Its two-day rise of more than 6%

is the largest on record, according to LSEG data.

Holidays in Britain, Hong Kong, China, Japan and South Korea

otherwise put a damper on Monday trade, the barrage of Trump

headlines notwithstanding.

In a TV interview aired on Sunday, Trump said he would not

attempt to remove Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell but

repeated calls for lower interest rates and called the Chair a

"stiff".

The Fed meets on Wednesday and is widely expected to leave

rates steady following a solid March payrolls report.

The Bank of England meets on Thursday and is a heavy

favourite to cut interest rates, while central banks in Norway

and Sweden are expected to keep rates steady.

At elections over the weekend, incumbents in Australia and

Singapore were returned to power, echoing the result in Canada

with ruling parties' fortunes bolstered by the global economic

uncertainty that Trump has unleashed.

At the same time, hard-right eurosceptic George Simion won

the first round of Romania's presidential election re-run on

Sunday, near-final results showed, riding a wave of Trump-style

nationalism in the European Union.

Key developments that could influence markets on Monday:

Economics: U.S. Services ISM

Earnings: Ford, Palantir

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