NEW YORK, June 23, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – World stock markets mostly climbed
Friday despite rising trade tensions, with petroleum-linked shares gaining
after OPEC agreed to only a modest production increase.
The Dow snapped an eight-session losing streak, with oil producers Exxon
Mobil and Chevron both rising more than two percent on higher oil prices.
Ministers with the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries agreed
to ramp up oil production by around a million barrels a day from July.
However, some ministers acknowledged that the actual amount of additional
produced will be lower than that amount. US oil prices rose nearly five
percent following the agreement, with analysts saying the output increase
would be smaller than expected.
The rally in oil prices also gave a lift to French giant Total and London-
listed Royal Dutch Shell.
Bourses in Paris and London both rose more than one percent, while
Frankfurt rose a more modest 0.5 percent.
The gains came as the European Union slapped revenge tariffs on iconic US
products including bourbon, jeans and motorcycles in its opening salvo in a
trade war with President Donald Trump.
Customs agents across Europe’s colossal market of 500 million people will
now impose the duty, hiking prices on US-made products in supermarkets and
across factory floors.
Trump wasted little time in responding, threatening on Twitter to impose 20
percent tariffs on European-made cars exported to the US, pressuring European
automakers including Italy’s Fiat Chrysler and Germany’s Daimler.
“The underlying tensions between the US and China continue to escalate, and
while neither wants a trade war, the US won’t accept the status quo, and
China won’t change its industrial policy,” Rabobank senior strategist Michael
Every told AFP.
Many analysts have expressed skepticism that a trade war is inevitable.
Still, anxiety is rising.
“The hope is that the Trump administration’s tough approach towards its
trading partners is a negotiating tactic and the growth-killing implications
of an all-out trade war will be avoided,” said Bob Schwartz, senior economist
at Oxford Economics. “The latest salvo by Trump on Friday, threatening to
impose a 20 percent tariff on European auto imports, is clearly not
encouraging.”
– Key figures around 2100 GMT –
New York – Dow Jones: UP 0.5 percent at 24,580.89 (close)
New York – S&P 500: UP 0.2 percent at 2,754.88 (close)
New York – Nasdaq: DOWN 0.3 percent at 7,692.82 (close)
London – FTSE 100: UP 1.7 percent at 7,682.27 (close)
Frankfurt – DAX 30: UP 0.5 percent at 12,579.72 (close)
Paris – CAC 40: UP 1.3 percent at 5,387.38 (close)
EURO STOXX 50: UP 1.1 percent at 3,441.60 (close)
Tokyo – Nikkei 225: DOWN 0.8 percent at 22,516.83 (close)
Hong Kong – Hang Seng: UP 0.2 percent at 29,338.70 (close)
Shanghai – Composite: UP 0.5 percent at 2,889.76 (close)
Euro/dollar: UP at $1.1658 from $1.1604 at 2100 GMT
Pound/dollar: UP at $1.3260 from $1.3240
Dollar/yen: DOWN at 109.98 yen from 109.99 yen
Oil – Brent Crude: UP $2.50 at $75.55 per barrel
Oil – West Texas Intermediate: UP $3.04 at $68.58 per barrel