BEIJING (AP) — Global stocks sank Wednesday after U.S. President Donald Trump threatened more tariff hikes on Chinese imports if talks aimed at ending a trade war fail to produce an interim agreement.
Market benchmarks in London, Frankfurt, Shanghai and Tokyo declined. Wall Street looked set to slip.
Trump said Tuesday that an agreement on the “Phase 1” deal announced last month “could happen soon.” But he warned he was ready to raise tariffs “very substantially” if that fails.
The two sides disagree publicly about whether the U.S. agreed to roll back some punitive tariffs imposed in the fight over Beijing’s trade surplus and technology ambitions. The Chinese government said last week that was settled, but Trump denied that.
Trump’s comments “served as a reminder of the challenge that the two sides face,” said Jingyi Pan of IG in a report. However, she said, investors saw them as “positioning statements,” reducing their impact.
DHS Pleads with Far-Left Public Officials to Tone Down Anti-ICE Rhetoric Amid 1,600 Percent Increase in Assaults
Suspect in Pittsburgh doctor’s murder had been released without bail on prior burglary charge: court docs
‘Red carpet for a despot’: Trump’s lavish Xi welcome collides with GOP anti-communism message
Ex-Dem insider blows lid off fundraising ‘gimmicks’ during 2024 election: ‘Pyramid scheme’
When Politicians Call Data Centers ‘100% Renewable,’ They May Not Mean What You Think
Dem Gov. of NJ Tells Her Hand-Picked Lt. Gov. to Get Out as Investigation Points to Sordid Sexual Past
Clancy Lawyers Make Big Mistake Going After Lone Holdout Juror’s Phone – Now He’s Going Public with What He Noticed About Other Jurors’ Phones
Iranian president denies nuclear ambitions while blaming US for Middle East conflict and more top headlines
‘Castro’s playbook’: Ex-AG warns dozens of congressional bills are pushing socialist ideas
Xi caps Trump state visit with symbolic final stop before leaving Washington
As Trump’s popularity plummets, House Democratic target emerges in red Indiana
California voter ID ballot measure could be rare GOP statewide win
How the midterm elections will set Democrats up for 2028 success or failure
The Big Bad Guy Behind Unaffordable Housing Almost No One Names: Zoning Laws
Donalds rips opponent’s ‘complete 180’ as Dem’s own 2016 words come back to haunt him in tightening gov race
In midday trading, London’s FTSE 100 declined 0.5% to 7,331 and Frankfurt’s DAX lost 0.7% to 13,186. France’s CAC 40 shed 0.4% to 5,894. On Wall Street, futures for the benchmark Standard & Poor’s 500 index and the Dow Jones Industrial Average were each down 0.4%.
In Asia, the Shanghai Composite Index lost 0.3% to 2,905.24 and Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 sank 0.9% to 23,319.87. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng tumbled 1.8% to 26,571.46.
South Korea’s Kospi retreated 0.9% to 2,122.45 and Australia’s S&P-ASX 200 sank 0.8% at 6,698.40. India’s Sensex lost 0.3% to 40,215.20.
Hong Kong shares, already under pressure from the U.S.-China tariff war and slowing global demand, have been jolted by growing violence in anti-government protests.
The protests began in June over a proposed extradition law and expanded to include demands for greater democracy and other grievances. Hong Kong tumbled into its first recession in a decade in the latest quarter.
Momentum for the global stock market has been mostly upward for more than five weeks as worries about the U.S.-China trade war have eased.
This week, the U.S. Labor Department is due to give updates on consumer and wholesale inflation. Economists expect a government report to show retail sales returned to growth in October.
DHS Pleads with Far-Left Public Officials to Tone Down Anti-ICE Rhetoric Amid 1,600 Percent Increase in Assaults
Suspect in Pittsburgh doctor’s murder had been released without bail on prior burglary charge: court docs
‘Red carpet for a despot’: Trump’s lavish Xi welcome collides with GOP anti-communism message
Ex-Dem insider blows lid off fundraising ‘gimmicks’ during 2024 election: ‘Pyramid scheme’
When Politicians Call Data Centers ‘100% Renewable,’ They May Not Mean What You Think
Dem Gov. of NJ Tells Her Hand-Picked Lt. Gov. to Get Out as Investigation Points to Sordid Sexual Past
Clancy Lawyers Make Big Mistake Going After Lone Holdout Juror’s Phone – Now He’s Going Public with What He Noticed About Other Jurors’ Phones
Iranian president denies nuclear ambitions while blaming US for Middle East conflict and more top headlines
‘Castro’s playbook’: Ex-AG warns dozens of congressional bills are pushing socialist ideas
Xi caps Trump state visit with symbolic final stop before leaving Washington
As Trump’s popularity plummets, House Democratic target emerges in red Indiana
California voter ID ballot measure could be rare GOP statewide win
How the midterm elections will set Democrats up for 2028 success or failure
The Big Bad Guy Behind Unaffordable Housing Almost No One Names: Zoning Laws
Donalds rips opponent’s ‘complete 180’ as Dem’s own 2016 words come back to haunt him in tightening gov race
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell is due to give testimony to Congress on Wednesday about the U.S. economy. Most investors expect the Fed to keep interest rates on hold for now after cutting them three times since the summer.
ENERGY: Benchmark U.S. crude lost 37 cents to $56.43 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract fell 6 cents on Tuesday. Brent crude, used to price international oils, shed 60 cents to $61.46 per barrel in London. It retreated 12 cents the previous session.
CURRENCY: The dollar fell to 108.84 Japanese yen from 109.01 yen. The euro dipped to $1.1006 from $1.1010.
Story cited here.
