World shares fall for fourth day on US-China trade talks
European stocks are near six-week lows, following Asia and New York lower on China-US trade angst with Trump saying China ‘broke the deal’
London — World shares tumbled for a fourth day running on Thursday after a warning from US President Donald Trump that a long worked-on trade deal with China was in serious danger. Chinese vice-premier Liu He was heading to Washington for two days of talks but Trump’s insistence that China “broke the deal”, and then Beijing’s response that it would retaliate against tariffs were ratcheting up the stakes. Europe’s main stock markets sank almost immediately after a torrid day for Asia had taken 1.8% off China and more than 3% off South Korea, which is often seen as the bellwether for how this trade war hits home. Both countries’ currencies were hit too, the won skidding to a more than two-year low and the yuan to a four-month trough, which kept traders buying the traditionally safe yen and US and German bonds instead. “Markets remain on edge ahead of the Chinese vice-premier’s visit to Washington today,” Rabobank analyst Bas van Geffen said. “Doubt that this tariff increase can be avo...
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