London — World shares limped towards their worst week in almost six months on Friday, with Asia carving out a 14-month trough as investors braced for a new salvo of China-US tariffs. A slump in US chip stocks and reports that President Donald Trump had also weighed a trade scrap with Japan dragged on tech-heavy Asia overnight, while Europe’s main bourses faded after an initial attempt push higher. A flat pan-European Stoxx 600 was set to end the week with a 2.3% loss, its worst weekly performance since the end of March. Emerging-market stocks have lost even more, some 3%. Nerves were set to be frayed further after the public comment period for proposed tariffs on an additional $200bn worth of Chinese imports passed at 4am GMT. The tariffs could now go into effect at any moment, although there was no clear timetable. China has warned of retaliation if Washington launches any new measures. Australia’s dollar, often used in as play on China’s fortunes due to its huge metals exports the...
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.
Subscribe now to unlock this article.
Support BusinessLIVE’s award-winning journalism for R129 per month (digital access only).
There’s never been a more important time to support independent journalism in SA. Our subscription packages now offer an ad-free experience for readers.
Cancel anytime.
Questions? Email helpdesk@businesslive.co.za or call 0860 52 52 00. Got a subscription voucher? Redeem it now.