Global stocks turn lower as US-China tariff truce in focus

Global shares turned lower Monday after the U.S. and China announced a truce on tariff hikes but uncertainty remained over their wide-ranging economic dispute. London and Frankfurt declined and Wall Street was set for small losses on the open, while Asian markets largely closed higher. Trading in Japan was closed for a holiday. U.S. President Donald Trump agreed Friday to put off planned tariff hikes this week on Chinese goods in a fight over Beijing’s trade surplus and technology plans. In exchange, he said China would buy American farm goods. The two sides, however, reported no progress on basic disputes that sparked the 15-month-old fight that threatens global economic growth.

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Longer-term concerns remain 

Friday’s truce “has simply temporarily halted the escalation in China-U.S. trade tensions,” Philip Wee and Eugene Leow of DBS Group said in a report. “Longer-term concerns remain that the trade war may widen from tariffs towards impeding investment flows,” they said. The truce “could also see the Trump administration turning its tariff war towards the eurozone.” In midday trading, London’s FTSE 100 declined 0.6% to 7,207 and Frankfurt’s DAX lost 0.6% to 12,437. France’s CAC 40 retreated 0.8% to 5,622. “It can be argued that the gains in global stocks were disproportionate to the (U.S.-Chinese) compromise that was reached and European stocks are duly pushing lower this morning,” said Rabobank in a report.

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On Wall Street, futures for the benchmark Standard & Poor’s 500 index and Dow Jones Industrial Average both declined about 0.3% In Asia, the Shanghai Composite Index rose 1.1% to 3,007.88 and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng advanced 0.8% to 26,521.85. Seoul’s Kospi added 1.1% to 2,067.40. Sydney’s S&P-ASX 200 gained 0.5% to 6,642.60 and India’s Sensex rose 0.9% to 38,477.16. Also Monday, China reported exports to the United States fell 17.8% in September from a year earlier to $36.5 billion. Imports of American goods sank 20.6% to $10.6 billion. China’s global exports fell 1.4% to $218.1 billion. Imports fell 5.8% to $178.5 billion. ENERGY: Benchmark U.S. crude lost $1.11 cents to $53.59 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract gained $1.15 on Friday to close at $54.70. Brent crude, used to price international oils, declined $1.15 cents to $59.36 per barrel in London. It advanced $1.41 the previous session to $60.51. CURRENCY: The dollar declined to 108.20 yen from Friday’s 108.38 yen. The euro slipped to $1.1030 from $1.1036.

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