London (AFP) – Wall Street clung to strong gains and European stocks rose on Tuesday over easing concerns about the next round of tariffs from US President Donald Trump. The Dow, the broad-based S&P 500 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq were all up around 0.1 percent in early deals, following a rally fueled by technology stocks the previous day. Sentiment was buoyed by indications from the White House that a glut of levies due next week would be less severe than feared.
Trump has dubbed April 2 “Liberation Day” as he pledges to impose reciprocal tariffs on trading partners in an effort to remedy practices that Washington deems unfair. “Tariff fears subsided a touch after President Trump suggested that the reciprocal tariffs promised next week may be smaller in scope than many had feared,” said David Morrison, senior market analyst at Trade Nation. “But without specific guidance over what will, and what won’t, be included, investors remain on edge,” Morrison added.
In Europe, Paris gained 1.1 percent in afternoon deals while Frankfurt won 0.9 percent and London advanced 0.8 percent. The positivity also followed data revealing that German business confidence rose in March, as a massive government spending plan promised to get Europe’s largest economy rolling once again.
Asian markets closed mixed as traders focused on more domestic matters, while the dollar dropped awaiting US inflation data this week that could firm expectations of fresh cuts to interest rates later this year in the world’s biggest economy. Hong Kong sank 2.4 percent, weighed by a drop of around six percent in Chinese tech giant Xiaomi, which raised $5.5 billion in a mega share sale as it looked to expand its electric vehicle business. The deal, which comes after a similar move this month by EV firm BYD, stoked worries about market liquidity. Traders were also cashing in recent profits — particularly among high-flying tech firms — following an impressive surge in the Hang Seng Index that has seen it pile on around 20 percent since the start of the year.
Tony Sycamore, market analyst at IG trading group, said markets expect that the next phase of tariffs “will be more organised and structured than previous actions”. “Whatever numbers are announced…are likely to be negotiated down from there,” Sycamore said. Still, the president did provide a jolt by warning countries that bought crude and gas from Venezuela would face steep tariffs, a move that could hit China and India among others. Beijing on Tuesday accused Washington of “interfering in Venezuela’s internal affairs”, helping to support oil prices.
Among individual stocks, shares in British energy giant Shell rose 2.3 percent after it announced plans to slash costs by billions of dollars and increase shareholder returns. Tesla shares fell more than two percent as industry data showed its sales in Europe sank almost by half in the first two months of the year amid anger over Elon Musk’s political positions.
– Key figures around 1335 GMT –
New York – Dow: UP 0.1 percent at 42,625.37 points
New York – S&P 500: UP 0.1 percent at 5,772.57
New York – Nasdaq: UP 0.1 percent at 18,204.61
London – FTSE 100: UP 0.8 percent at 8,707.99
Paris – CAC 40: UP 1.1 percent at 8,112.09
Frankfurt – DAX: UP 0.9 at 23,061.80
Tokyo – Nikkei 225: UP 0.5 percent at 37,780.54 (close)
Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: DOWN 2.4 percent at 23,344.25 (close)
Shanghai – Composite: FLAT at 3,369.98 (close)
Euro/dollar: UP at $1.0823 from $1.0805 on Monday
Pound/dollar: UP at $1.2958 from $1.2924
Dollar/yen: DOWN at 149.74 yen from 150.58 yen
Euro/pound: DOWN at 83.53 pence from 83.58 pence
Brent North Sea Crude: UP 0.7 percent at $73.51 per barrel
West Texas Intermediate: UP 0.7 percent at $69.62 per barrel
© 2024 AFP
