London (AFP) – Major European and Asian stock markets mostly fell Tuesday as they waited for further developments after Wall Street struck record highs on optimism over US-China trade tensions.
“Equity markets through Asia and Europe have taken a turn,” noted Joshua Mahony, chief market analyst at Scope Markets, with major indices across both continents having also hit record peaks in recent sessions. “On a day that provides little by way of economic data, traders continue to retain a focus on US-China relations,” he added.
Donald Trump is due to meet Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping Thursday in South Korea — and rosy comments by the US president have fuelled optimism that the world’s two largest economies, China and the United States, can strike a deal to ease their trade war. Those hopes spurred stocks to record highs Monday on Wall Street, where investors are preparing for earnings reports from tech giants including Microsoft and Meta this week.
Trump on Tuesday met Japan’s new Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi in Tokyo, where the country’s first woman PM lavished Trump with praise and vows of a “golden age” of ties, before inking a deal with Washington aimed at securing critical minerals. Japan’s Nikkei 225 index of leading stocks finished the day down 0.6 percent, after surging above 50,000 points Monday for the first time thanks to Takaichi’s pro-stimulus stance.
Ahead of Tuesday’s US open, online retailing giant Amazon said it would axe about 14,000 unspecified jobs as part of efforts to streamline operations. Paramount Skydance will meanwhile cut about 1,000 positions on Wednesday, a source close to the matter told AFP, less than three months after the merger of the two media giants.
Markets continued to follow earnings. Shares in HSBC rose in London and Hong Kong as the global bank’s underlying profits beat expectations. Swiss pharmaceutical giant Novartis shed 3.6 percent after its latest earnings showed the group under pressure from US generic drugs. In Paris, shares in French IT Capgemini rallied six percent on rising third-quarter sales.
– Key figures at around 1145 GMT –
London – FTSE 100: UP 0.1 percent at 9,663.79 points
Paris – CAC 40: DOWN 0.2 percent at 8,226.82
Frankfurt – DAX: DOWN 0.2 percent at 24,272.59
Tokyo – Nikkei 225: DOWN 0.6 percent at 50,219.18 (close)
Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: DOWN 0.3 percent at 26,346.14 (close)
Shanghai – Composite: DOWN 0.2 percent at 3,988.22 (close)
New York – Dow: UP 0.7 percent at 47,544.59 (close)
Euro/dollar: UP at $1.1656 from $1.1646 on Monday
Pound/dollar: DOWN at $1.3304 from $1.3333
Dollar/yen: DOWN at 152.05 yen from 152.90 yen
Euro/pound: UP at 87.62 from 87.35 pence
Brent North Sea Crude: DOWN 1.5 percent at $63.96 per barrel
West Texas Intermediate: DOWN 1.6 percent at $60.36 per barrel
© 2024 AFP
