Global shares fall on potential ‘limit’ on Chinese investments
FTSE 100 hits near two-month high
NEW YORK, Sept 28, (RTRS): A gauge of global equity markets fell on Friday after a report said the administration of US President Donald Trump was weighing limits on the flow of US portfolio investments into China.
White House officials are discussing ways to limit US portfolio flows into China, Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the internal deliberations.
Trump officials are also considering delisting Chinese companies from US stock exchanges, a Bloomberg reporter said separately in a tweet.
A gauge of world equity markets had rebounded earlier, buoyed by optimism US-China trade tensions might be easing as markets largely brushed off concerns about impeachment moves against Trump.
MSCI’s world equity index, which tracks shares in 47 countries, fell 0.2%, heading toward its worst weekly performance since mid-August.
Major equity indexes in Europe closed higher even as data showed slowing growth around the world.
US data showed consumer spending barely rose in August and business investment remained weak, suggesting the American economy was losing momentum as trade tensions linger.
A strong rally in mining shares propped up European shares, but they ended the week lower for the first time in five weeks as concerns about economic growth and trade, as well as political worries, kept a lid on gains.
The pan-European STOXX 600 index closed up 0.47% and the FTSEurofirst 300 index of leading regional shares gained 0.41%.
On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 6.82 points, or 0.03%, to 26,897.94. The S&P 500 lost 5.68 points, or 0.19%, to 2,971.94 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 37.25 points, or 0.46%, to 7,993.42.
Earlier in the day, Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan were buffeted by the political worries in the United States and shed 0.3%.
US
US stocks fell on Friday after reports that the Trump administration was considering delisting Chinese companies from US stock exchanges, raising worries about a further escalation in the U.S.-China trade war.
The S&P technology index dropped 1.3%. US-listed shares of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd, Baidu Inc and JD.com Inc all slid.
Adding to the negative momentum in afternoon trade, the S&P 500 index briefly fell below its 50-day moving average.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 70.87 points, or 0.26%, to
26,820.25, the S&P 500 lost 15.83 points, or 0.53%, to 2,961.79 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 91.03 points, or 1.13%, to 7,939.63.
All three indexes ended lower for the week as well, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq registering their biggest weekly percentage drops since August. The Cboe volatility index ended at a threeweek high.
Shares of Wells Fargo & Co rose 3.8% and the stock was the top gainer in the S&P 500 after the lender named banking veteran Charles Scharf as chief executive officer.
Data early in the day showed US consumer spending barely rose in August, suggesting that the economy’s main growth engine was slowing after accelerating sharply in the second quarter.
Declining issues outnumbered advancing ones on the NYSE by a 1.38to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 1.94-to-1 ratio favored decliners.
The S&P 500 posted 11 new 52week highs and 6 new lows; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 29 new highs and 118 new lows.
Volume on US exchanges was 6.68 billion shares, compared to the 7.2 billion average for the full session over the last 20 trading days.
UK
London’s FTSE 100 index hit a neartwo-month high on Friday, outperforming European peers, as exporters were bolstered by an ailing pound after a Bank of England policymaker hinted at an interest rate cut, while hopes of a US-China trade deal also lifted the mood.
The globally-exposed FTSE 100 jumped more than 1%, surprisingly ending the week in the black thanks to substantial gains in the last two sessions.
A lack of any major chipmaker presence shielded the index from a profit warning from Nasdaq-listed Micron
Technology , helping it outperform European’s main index.
The domestically-focused FTSE 250, which had broken ranks with sterling, rose 0.8%.
In a first clear sign that the BoE is considering a cut, policymaker Michael Saunders said it may need to cut interest rates in the likely scenario that high levels of uncertainty over Brexit persist.
“This is significant as Saunders has traditionally been a hawkish voice on the Monetary Policy Committee,” CMC Markets analyst Michael Hewson said.
Even as the Oct 31 Brexit deadline approaches, very little is clear about how or even whether the UK will leave the European Union. Prime Minister Boris Johnson is in a standoff with parliament after vowing to Britain out of the bloc on Oct 31, with or without a deal.