London — World stocks and emerging markets fell for the fifth consecutive day on Monday, hammered by the fear of a global trade war and the prospect of political instability in Europe after inconclusive elections in Italy. Assets considered low-risk — including gold, the yen and German bonds — were in heavy demand, with yields on the latter at the lowest in a month. "There is nothing in the global set-up that’s positive for equities at the moment especially as [share] prices are still out of whack with latest developments," said Salman Ahmed, chief investment strategist at Lombard Odier Investment Managers. US President Donald Trump last week sent world markets lower after threatening hefty tariffs on steel and aluminium imports, sparking threats of retaliatory action from trade partners worldwide. On Sunday, Italian voters delivered a hung parliament, flocking to anti-immigrant and eurosceptic parties in record numbers in a development seen as a setback to stability and wider Europ...
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