New York (AFP) – Global stock markets mostly fell on Thursday and gold hit a record high as traders fretted over the impact of US President Donald Trump’s tariffs and a pivot in Washington’s policy on Ukraine. Wall Street indices fell after retail behemoth Walmart issued a lackluster forecast. Shares of Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, and JPMorgan Chase fell three percent or more, dragging on major indices. US indices opened lower and spent the entire session in negative territory. But the S&P 500, which finished at a record the last two days, dropped 0.4 percent, well above its session lows — a sign of resilience.
“Whenever there’s been trouble in the market, buyers have showed up,” said Adam Sarhan from 50 Park Investments, who attributed the weakness in bank shares to profit-taking. Tensions between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Trump over the US President’s outreach to Moscow have exploded this week, rattling leaders in Europe. Uncertainty about Ukraine and Russia adds to anxiety over Trump’s myriad tariff actions and worries about lingering inflation.
“Investors are mulling the impact of interest rates staying higher for longer, given that policymakers expect US trade policy to push up the price of consumer goods,” said Susannah Streeter, head of money and markets at Hargreaves Lansdown. Paris stocks managed to end the day with a small gain, but Frankfurt and London both slid lower. Geopolitical uncertainty also led gold to hit a fresh record above $2,954 as investors rushed into the safe-haven commodity, which is sought out in times of uncertainty.
Asian markets struggled on Thursday. Shanghai managed to pare back early losses to end flat after Trump suggested on Wednesday that a trade deal with China was “possible.” Hong Kong dropped more than one percent as the China tech surge came to an end. Tokyo was weighed down by a stronger yen, which broke below 150 per dollar as the Bank of Japan eyes more interest rate hikes.
Among individual companies, Boeing slumped 2.8 percent after President Trump said he was looking at “alternatives” to the company’s Air Force One operation because of delivery delays.
**Key figures around 2130 GMT -**
New York – Dow: DOWN 1.0 percent at 44,176.65 (close)
New York – S&P 500: DOWN 0.4 percent at 6,117.52 (close)
New York – Nasdaq Composite: DOWN 0.5 percent at 19,962.36 (close)
London – FTSE 100: DOWN 0.6 percent at 8,662.97 (close)
Paris – CAC 40: UP 0.2 percent at 8,122.58 (close)
Frankfurt – DAX: DOWN 0.5 percent at 22,314.65 (close)
Tokyo – Nikkei 225: DOWN 1.2 percent at 38,678.04 (close)
Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: DOWN 1.6 percent at 22,576.98 (close)
Shanghai – Composite: FLAT at 3,350.78 (close)
Euro/dollar: UP at $1.0505 from $1.0423 on Wednesday
Pound/dollar: UP at $1.2668 from $1.2586
Dollar/yen: DOWN at 149.65 from 151.47 yen
Euro/pound: UP at 82.90 pence from 82.81 pence
West Texas Intermediate: UP 0.4 percent at $72.57 per barrel
Brent North Sea Crude: UP 0.6 percent at $76.48 per barrel
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© 2024 AFP
