AFP, London :
Stock traders found little to get the pulse racing on Friday as the trade war front was eerily quiet and Thanksgiving week sapped global trading volumes.
“It’s been quite the forgettable week and I don’t think today is going to be any more memorable,” said Craig Erlam, Senior Market Analyst at Oanda Europe.
With an almost empty economics schedule, markets were left primarily with the US-China trade conflict to trade on, as so often in recent weeks and months, he said. “Let’s face it, a deal is hardly looking likely at this point,” he said, predicting that markets were therefore headed for a “dull” December.
European stocks markets gave up earlier modest gains to drift lower, closing on a weaker note.
London underperformed its eurozone peers in response to a stronger pound which was boosted by expectations that Britain’s ruling Conservatives will win next month’s general election.
This would likely allow Prime Minister Boris Johnson to push through his Brexit agreement and avoid a no-deal divorce from the European Union.
Wall Street was also lower in the late New York morning as traders, returning from a Thanksgiving holiday, allowed the main US indices to retreat from record highs hit earlier in the week.
US President Donald Trump’s decision to sign a bill in support of pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong and back their rights has sparked warnings of retaliation from Beijing and fuelled fears for negotiations on a mini trade deal that are in their final straight.
However, China has not detailed what its response to the Hong Kong law will be and observers say it is unlikely to do anything to derail a tariffs agreement owing to its weakening economy.
“China’s threats to retaliate over the US Hong Kong law will probably remain just that; threats,” said Jeffrey Halley, also at Oanda.
“China has its own issues, especially around corpor
ate debt and regional bank credit quality. It can ill-afford to waste any progress so far. Pragmatism should overcome anger.”
On the corporate front, shares in Daimler dropped on the Frankfurt bourse as the German luxury automaker said it would slash at least 10,000 jobs worldwide in a major cost-cutting drive to help finance the switch to electric cars.
Stock traders found little to get the pulse racing on Friday as the trade war front was eerily quiet and Thanksgiving week sapped global trading volumes.
“It’s been quite the forgettable week and I don’t think today is going to be any more memorable,” said Craig Erlam, Senior Market Analyst at Oanda Europe.
With an almost empty economics schedule, markets were left primarily with the US-China trade conflict to trade on, as so often in recent weeks and months, he said. “Let’s face it, a deal is hardly looking likely at this point,” he said, predicting that markets were therefore headed for a “dull” December.
European stocks markets gave up earlier modest gains to drift lower, closing on a weaker note.
London underperformed its eurozone peers in response to a stronger pound which was boosted by expectations that Britain’s ruling Conservatives will win next month’s general election.
This would likely allow Prime Minister Boris Johnson to push through his Brexit agreement and avoid a no-deal divorce from the European Union.
Wall Street was also lower in the late New York morning as traders, returning from a Thanksgiving holiday, allowed the main US indices to retreat from record highs hit earlier in the week.
US President Donald Trump’s decision to sign a bill in support of pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong and back their rights has sparked warnings of retaliation from Beijing and fuelled fears for negotiations on a mini trade deal that are in their final straight.
However, China has not detailed what its response to the Hong Kong law will be and observers say it is unlikely to do anything to derail a tariffs agreement owing to its weakening economy.
“China’s threats to retaliate over the US Hong Kong law will probably remain just that; threats,” said Jeffrey Halley, also at Oanda.
“China has its own issues, especially around corpor
ate debt and regional bank credit quality. It can ill-afford to waste any progress so far. Pragmatism should overcome anger.”
On the corporate front, shares in Daimler dropped on the Frankfurt bourse as the German luxury automaker said it would slash at least 10,000 jobs worldwide in a major cost-cutting drive to help finance the switch to electric cars.
