London (AFP) – Wall Street stocks dipped Thursday while London hit a record high as investors remain optimistic overall that governments will reach deals to avoid US tariffs. The dollar climbed versus main rivals while oil prices slid. Bitcoin steadied after topping $112,000 for the first time on Wednesday.
All three of Wall Street’s main indices quickly slipped into the red, a day after the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite set fresh record highs thanks to a surge in US chip titan Nvidia that pushed the firm to a record $4 trillion valuation at one point. In Europe, London’s FTSE 100 index jumped one percent in morning trading, lifted also by a surge in mining stocks after US President Donald Trump said he would enact a 50-percent copper tariff on August 1. Paris and Frankfurt stock markets advanced, tracking gains in Asia.
“European markets in general continue to shrug off Donald Trump’s daily tariff updates, perhaps seeing them as noise and not facts,” said Dan Coatsworth, investment analyst at AJ Bell. “Trump is throwing out numbers left, right and centre, and investors have begun to dismiss anything that isn’t set in stone,” he added.
Negotiators from around the world have been trying to reach agreements with Washington since Trump in April unveiled his “Liberation Day” tariff bombshell, with a July 9 deadline pushed back to August 1. “Indications that the EU is edging closer to a deal with the US, with an agreement thought to be possible in a few days, has added to the positive vibes,” said Susannah Streeter, head of money and markets at Hargreaves Lansdown. The EU expects Trump to keep a 10-percent baseline tariff on EU goods with exemptions for critical sectors like airplanes, spirits, and cosmetics.
Letters have been sent in recent days to more than 20 trading partners — including Japan and South Korea — setting out new tolls, with some higher and some lower than the initial levels. There was little global reaction to news that Trump had hit Brazil with a 50 percent tariff as he blasted the trial of the country’s ex-president Jair Bolsonaro. Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said he will impose reciprocal levies on the United States. Brazil had not been among those threatened with higher duties, with the United States running a goods trade surplus with the South American giant.
Traders were given few guides on the US Federal Reserve’s interest rate plans after minutes published on Wednesday from its June policy meeting showed officials divided on the best way forward. While the board sees the president’s tariffs as inflationary, the minutes said there remained “considerable uncertainty” on the timing, size, and duration of the effects. “There is an understanding that the tariffs could invite higher prices and worsening inflation, but the stock market and the Treasury market continue to operate with an attitude of ‘seeing is believing’,” said Briefing.com analyst Patrick O’Hare. “They haven’t seen enough in the hard data to be convinced that the inflation threat is coming to fruition,” he added.
– Key figures at around 1330 GMT –
New York – Dow: DOWN less than 0.1 percent at 44,421.12 points
New York – S&P 500: DOWN less than 0.1 percent at 6,260.53
New York – Nasdaq Composite: DOWN less than 0.1 percent at 20,603.72
London – FTSE 100: UP 0.8 percent at 8,938.73
Paris – CAC 40: UP 0.3 percent at 7,897.96
Frankfurt – DAX: UP less than 0.1 percent at 24,558.34
Tokyo – Nikkei 225: DOWN 0.4 percent at 39,646.36 (close)
Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: UP 0.6 percent at 24,028.37 (close)
Shanghai – Composite: UP 0.5 percent at 3,509.68 (close)
Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.1699 from $1.1719 on Wednesday
Pound/dollar: DOWN at $1.3552 from $1.3590
Dollar/yen: UP at 146.50 yen from 146.30 yen
Euro/pound: UP at 86.34 pence from 86.21 pence
Brent North Sea Crude: DOWN 1.2 percent at $68.97 per barrel
West Texas Intermediate: DOWN 2.1 percent at $66.98 per barrel
© 2024 AFP
