World shares slip as China ramps up war of words
Risk aversion sets in as Shanghai shares drop with Trump targeting Huawei; the dollar, yen and pound are all faring poorly
London — World share markets suffered a fresh bout of risk aversion on Friday after tough words on trade from China, while bets on a new pro-Brexit leader in Britain whipped the pound towards its worst week since October. Europe’s bourses slipped 0.6% early on that seemed a minor blip after what had happened in Asia. Shanghai stocks finished 2.5% in the red and the yuan hit its weakest in nearly five months amid growing fallout from US President Donald Trump’s move to block China’s Huawei Technologies from buying vital American technology. On Friday, the Communist Party’s People’s Daily used a front page commentary to evoke the patriotic spirit of past wars, saying the trade war would never bring China down. In terms of how the trade conflict plays out, “the next fortnight will be very, very important,” UniCredit strategist Kiran Kowshik said. “Chinese counter-tariffs are due on June 1 and if those get effected, I think markets will price in the risk of the US imposing its additiona...
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