By Lawrence Delevingne and Alun John

(Reuters) -Global stocks fell and long-dated bond yields in Europe hit multiyear highs on Tuesday as investors grew increasingly worried about the state of finances in countries around the world, while the dollar gained, and gold touched a fresh record high.

A divided U.S. appeals court ruled on Friday that most of President Donald Trump’s tariffs are illegal, although the court allowed for the tariffs to stay in place until October 14, pending a likely appeal to the Supreme Court.

U.S. manufacturing contracted for a sixth straight month in August as factories grappled with the impact of import tariffs, but an artificial intelligence spending boom is lending support to some segments of the industry.

U.S. stocks traded lower, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average down 0.55%, the S&P 500 off about 0.7% and the Nasdaq Composite down 0.8%.

“Global bond markets are starting the month with a nervous glance towards upcoming government budget discussions in the U.S. and in Europe,” Paul Christopher, head of global investment strategy at the Wells Fargo Investment Institute, said in a client note. “The cumulative increase in yields has caught the attention of equity investors.”

As markets suffered a sharp September shock, the Japanese yen also tumbled after a close aide to Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said he would resign from his post.

France’s 30-year government bond yields hit their highest levels in more than 16 years on Tuesday at around 4.5%, while yields on 30-year German bonds hit a fresh 14-year high at about 3.4%. In the UK, 30-year gilt yields notched their highest mark since 1998, as investors looked warily ahead to the government’s autumn budget plans.

Bond yields move inversely to prices, and yields especially on super-long-dated 30-year bonds have been soaring around the world, with investors concerned about the scale of debt in countries from Japan to the United States.

“The pain trade in bond markets seamlessly carried over from August into September,” said Kenneth Broux, head of corporate research FX and rates at Societe Generale.

“And the flurry of new primary issuance that awaits investors in the coming days and weeks threatens to exacerbate the global selloff in the long end.”

The U.S. 30-year yield was also up 5.1 bps at 4.96%, while benchmark 10-year Treasury yields rose 4.5 bps to 4.27%.

Britain and France are in particular focus.

French Prime Minister Francois Bayrou looks set to lose a confidence vote as opposition parties balk at his cuts to government spending, while British finance minister Rachel Reeves is expected to raise taxes in her autumn budget to remain in line with her fiscal targets.

Warren Buffett has long championed a conservative financial approach to investing. He doesn’t advise taking on much debt, and certainly doesn’t think Berkshire, or anyone, should overleverage themselves. But if he does, he says there’s only one smart way to structure it. In fact, his guidance on leverage at Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.B) (BRK.A) is explicit: “We rarely use much debt and, when we do, we attempt to structure it on a long-term fixed rate basis.”

The line first appeared in the Berkshire executive’s 1983 shareholder letter, as part of a broader outline of manager-owner principles that emphasized conservative financing and accountability to policyholders, lenders, and shareholders. Set against the financial environment of the early 1980s — when interest rates were volatile and refinancing risk was front of mind — the statement served as a practical policy, not a slogan. It has remained part of Berkshire’s canon ever since.

The context of the remark matters. Berkshire’s core business includes large insurance operations where stability and claims-paying capacity are essential. Avoiding heavy leverage lowers the chance that short-term funding pressures undermine long-term promises. Fixing rates when the company does borrow reduces exposure to interest-rate swings and refinancing windows — key risks for institutions that must stay liquid across cycles. The same section of the 1983 letter presents this discipline as a trade-off: the company may forgo attractive deals if they require undue leverage.

The credibility behind the line rests on both the author’s record and the firm’s structure. As chairman and CEO, Buffett has led Berkshire through multiple interest rate regimes and credit cycles, all while insisting on balance-sheet strength to match a decentralized operating model. In the wake of major dislocations, the company has historically prioritized high liquidity and modest near-term obligations, enabling it to keep operating flexibility when markets are strained. Berkshire’s 2008 shareholder letter eventually framed this approach as a permanent goal — maintain ample liquidity and modest maturities — underscoring why the firm has repeatedly been a provider of capital, rather than a seeker of it, during stress.