**Hong Kong (AFP)** – Stocks were mixed Tuesday as the positivity sparked by recent US trade deals dissipated, with investors now focused on the release of key data and earnings, and the Federal Reserve’s next policy meeting. While Donald Trump’s agreement with the European Union on Sunday was seen as better than a tariff standoff, observers pointed out that the US president’s 15 percent levies — with none on American goods — were still much higher than before.
The pact, which followed a similar one with Japan last week, still left many concerned about the economic consequences, with auto companies particularly worried. “The 15 percent blanket levy on EU and Japanese imports may have helped markets sidestep a cliff, but it’s no free pass,” said Stephen Innes at SPI Asset Management. “With the average effective US tariff rate now sitting at 18.2 percent, the barrier to global trade remains significant. The higher tail risk didn’t detonate, but its potential impact on the global economy hasn’t disappeared either.”
And National Australia Bank’s Ray Attrill added: “It hasn’t taken long for markets to conclude that this relatively good news is still, in absolute terms, bad news as far as the near term (through 2025) implications for eurozone growth are concerned.” Traders are also keeping an eye on US talks with other major economies, including India and South Korea.
After a tepid day on Wall Street — which still saw the S&P and Nasdaq hit records — Asia was mixed. Tokyo, Hong Kong, Singapore, Manila, and Taipei were all in the red, while Shanghai, Sydney, Seoul, Wellington, Mumbai, Bangkok, and Jakarta rose. Europe enjoyed a healthy start to the day, with London, Paris, and Frankfurt all up in the morning.
The euro held its losses from Monday, having taken a hit from worries about the effects of the trade deal on the eurozone. The first of two days of negotiations between top US and Chinese officials in Stockholm concluded Monday with no details released, though there are hopes they will agree to extend a 90-day truce that ends on August 12. The two imposed triple-digit tariffs on each other earlier this year in a tit-for-tat escalation, but then walked them back under the temporary agreement reached in May.
Investors are also looking ahead to a busy few days that includes earnings from tech titans Apple, Microsoft, Meta, and Amazon, as well as data on US economic growth and job creation. That all comes as the Fed concludes its policy meeting amid increasing pressure from Trump to slash rates, even with inflation staying stubbornly high. While it is expected to stand pat on borrowing costs, its post-meeting statement and comments from boss Jerome Powell will be pored over for clues about its plans for the second half of the year in light of the tariffs.
Oil prices extended Monday’s rally after Trump shortened a deadline for Russia to end its war in Ukraine to August 7 or 9, following which he vowed to sanction countries buying its crude.
**Key figures at around 0715 GMT:**
– Tokyo – Nikkei 225: DOWN 0.8 percent at 40,674.55 (close)
– Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: DOWN 0.2 percent at 25,524.45 (close)
– Shanghai – Composite: UP 0.3 percent at 3,609.71 (close)
– London – FTSE 100: UP 0.1 percent at 9,092.87
– Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.1550 from $1.1597 on Monday
– Pound/dollar: DOWN at $1.3325 from $1.3356
– Dollar/yen: UP at 148.61 yen from 148.52 yen
– Euro/pound: DOWN at 86.68 pence from 86.80 pence
– West Texas Intermediate: UP 0.1 percent at $66.77 per barrel
– Brent North Sea Crude: UP 0.1 percent at $70.09 per barrel
– New York – Dow: DOWN 0.1 percent at 44,837.56 (close)
© 2024 AFP
