New York (AFP) – Stocks largely rose on Thursday, with London striking a record high and US indices also edging to fresh new peaks, as investors looked past US President Donald Trump’s plethora of tariff threats. Both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq shrugged off early weakness to eke out gains that left them at all-time highs. US airline shares enjoyed a particularly buoyant session with Delta, United, and American Airlines all winning double-digit gains after Delta’s results topped estimates.
Investors are largely ignoring a flood of tariff announcements from Trump this week affecting myriad important trading partners, analysts said. “It’s pretty clear that the market does not want to pay attention to tariff news until the tariffs are actually in place,” said Steve Sosnick of Interactive Brokers. “As long as there is any plausible, any possible reason for tariffs to get renegotiated or pushed back or modified, then the market is going to just not respond to the news,” added Sosnick.
In Europe, London’s FTSE 100 index rose more than one percent to set a new all-time high, lifted also by a surge in mining stocks after Trump said he would enact a 50-percent copper tariff on August 1. Paris stocks advanced, tracking gains in Asia, but Frankfurt ended the day lower. 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. 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 would 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.
– Key figures at around 2140 GMT –
New York – Dow: UP 0.4 percent at 44,650.64 (close)
New York – S&P 500: UP 0.3 percent at 6,280.46 (close)
New York – Nasdaq Composite: UP 0.1 percent at 20,630.66 (close)
London – FTSE 100: UP 1.2 percent at 8,975.96 (close)
Paris – CAC 40: UP 0.3 percent at 7,902.25 (close)
Frankfurt – DAX: DOWN 0.4 percent at 24,456.81 (close)
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 $1.1698 from $1.1720 on Wednesday
Pound/dollar: DOWN at $1.3576 from $1.3586
Dollar/yen: DOWN at 146.19 yen from 146.33 yen
Euro/pound: DOWN at 86.16 pence from 86.27 pence
Brent North Sea Crude: DOWN 2.5 percent at $68.64 per barrel
West Texas Intermediate: DOWN 2.7 percent at $66.57 per barrel
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© 2024 AFP
