London (AFP) – Stock markets slid but the dollar held up Friday as US President Donald Trump announced tariffs on dozens of trading partners, offsetting strong earnings from tech giants. With hours to go before Trump’s August 1 deadline for governments to make toll-averting deals, the president unveiled a list of sweeping levies. Shares in European pharmaceutical firms meanwhile slumped following the president’s threat to punish them if they did not lower prices for medicines in the United States.
“Tariffs are the main theme sucking risk sentiment from financial markets,” noted Kathleen Brooks, research director at XTB trading group. “The other market-moving event today will be US payrolls (jobs) data.” Analysts have been fairly downbeat on this report, which could puncture the narrative that the US economy is resilient in the face of tariff threats,” she added.
Governments around the world have been scrambling to cut agreements with the White House since Trump unveiled his bombshell “Liberation Day” tariffs on April 2. He has delayed implementation of the tariffs several times — the latest move pushing them back by a week to August 7. Some countries have reached deals with the United States — including Japan, the European Union, Britain and South Korea. China remains in talks with Washington to extend a fragile truce in place since May.
For those in the crosshairs of the latest outburst, tariff rates range from 10 percent to 41 percent. Trump unveiled new levies Thursday on nearly 70 countries — including a blistering 35-percent rate on Canada — as he seeks to reshape global trade to benefit the US economy. The Swiss government on Friday said it would negotiate with the United States to try to avoid the 39-percent tariff that would ravage its key pharmaceutical industry. The Swiss franc retreated around half a percent against the dollar Friday.
Tariffs uncertainty overshadowed earnings from major tech titans this week that saw Apple on Thursday post double-digit quarterly revenue growth that beat expectations. Amazon said quarterly profits jumped 35 percent as key major investments in AI technology paid off, though its outlook for the next three months disappointed. Google, Microsoft and Meta have also posted bumper results in recent days.
– Key figures at around 1045 GMT –
London – FTSE 100: DOWN 0.6 percent at 9,075.39 points
Paris – CAC 40: DOWN 2.2 percent at 7,602.50
Frankfurt – DAX: DOWN 1.8 percent at 23,632.38
Tokyo – Nikkei 225: DOWN 0.7 percent at 40,799.60 (close)
Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: DOWN 1.1 percent at 24,507.81 (close)
Shanghai – Composite: DOWN 0.4 percent at 3,559.95 (close)
New York – Dow: DOWN 0.7 percent at 44,130.98 (close)
Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.1414 from $1.1421 on Thursday
Pound/dollar: DOWN at $1.3164 from $1.3208
Dollar/yen: DOWN at 150.35 yen from 150.68 yen
Euro/pound: UP at 86.71 pence from 86.43 pence
West Texas Intermediate: DOWN 0.6 percent at $68.84 per barrel
Brent North Sea Crude: DOWN 0.5 percent at $71.31
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© 2024 AFP
