Markets down on trade row concerns

WORLD stock markets broadly edged lower yesterday as concerns of a further escalation of a trade fight between the United States and China offset corporate results, while the US dollar gained and Treasury yields dipped on the uncertainty.

Sterling dropped to an 11-month low after the British trade minister warned that the nation was headed for a no-deal Brexit, stoking investor fears that Britain could soon leave the EU without securing a trade agreement.

US Treasury yields dipped, with the 10year yield holding below 3pc on moderate buying, on trade concerns and in advance of this week’s August refunding, where the US government will sell $78bn in couponbearing securities.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 4.64 points, or 0.02pc, to 25,457.94, the S&P 500 gained 5.06 points, or 0.18 pc, to 2,845.41 and the Nasdaq Composite added 19.98 points, or 0.26 pc, to 7,831.99. MSCI’s gauge of stocks across the globe shed 0.04pc, while the pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index lost 0.20pc.

The prolonged trade dispute between the US and China has rattled financial markets across the globe.

Chinese state media attacked President Donald Trump’s trade policies yesterday, calling the US plan ineffective “extortion,” in a bid to reassure investors as growth concerns battered China’s financial markets.

European shares followed their Asian counterparts lower – hurt by weak European bank earnings and trade fears – but a falling euro boosted exporters and helped halt the slide. The pan-European share indexes were down 0.14pc and 0.07pc respectively. In Dublin the main movers were IFG and Ryanair, which recorded gains. On the other side Arzyta and Origin were down. The ISE closed up 26.69 points.