Global markets retreat as tension between West and Saudi Arabia intensifies
London — World markets turned tail again on Monday, as a bounceback in oil prices and rising tension between Western powers and Saudi Arabia added to a cocktail of concerns that battered global stocks last week. Asia had seen Japan’s Nikkei and China’s main bourses take fresh tumbles on trade and currency jitters and Europe’s Stoxx 600 dipped to a new 22-month low in early trading as the gloom refused to lift. The ebbing confidence boosted traditional safe-haven assets. The yen and Swiss franc both made ground in the currency markets, and gold hit its highest since the end of July. Germany’s government bonds also rallied despite a humbling election for Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservative Bavarian allies in a regional election on Sunday. The euro traded down slightly at $1.1552. “I don’t think there is really any appetite to dive back in [to stocks] and the Saudi situation is just another ball for investors to have to juggle,” said CMC Markets’ senior analyst Michael Hewson. “If ...
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