European carmakers zoom higher on US-EU trade plan
Ministry launches tourist sector app
SHARES in French and German carmakers accelerated Thursday after US President Donald Trump appeared to back away from tariffs on the sector. Trump and European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker announced a plan to ease trade tensions after talks Wednesday at the White House.
Traders were meanwhile awaiting a meeting of the European Central Bank, although analysts expect the bank to leave unchanged its plans to end massive stimulus for the eurozone by December.
In Frankfurt deals Thursday, Volkswagen’s share price zoomed 3.5percent higher to trade at 151 euros around 1100 GMT.
BMW jumped 3.1 percent to 82.36 euros and Daimler gained 2.5 percent to € 59.32.
In Paris, shares in Peugeot-owner PSA and Renault pulled away with 2.0 percent-plus increases.
“European car makers are higher... in the wake of the constructive meeting between President Trump and the European Commission’s Jean-Claude Juncker,” CMC Markets analyst David Madden told AFP.
“Going into the meeting, Trump was talking about imposing 25-percent tariffs on EU cars, and now a trade war has been adverted,” added Madden.
“Both sides agreed to work towards lowering trade barriers, and traders are taking this as a sign that Mr Trump won’t be imposing hefty tariffs on EU cars. No agreement has been put in place, but this is a step in the right direction,” Madden added.
The plan means Washington will not follow through with a threat to impose tariffs on autos, which would hurt in particular the German car industry, while the pair also vowed to look at existing duties on steel and aluminium imposed by the US that had angered the EU.
The two major economies sought to end a dispute that had rattled markets and sparked fears of an all-out global trade war.
“News that US president Trump has decided to refrain from imposing car tariffs on EU automakers has unsurprisingly been warmly greeted on the continent with shares in the sector moving firmly higher,” XTB analyst David Cheetham told AFP.
“Talk of tariffs as high as 25 percent on cars imported into the US had presented a major threat to the level of demand for EU manufacturers, in what is a key market for them.
“The latest developments suggest that this is no longer as large a concern.”
Asian stocks however mostly fell Thursday as investor relief was offset by disappointing Wall Street earnings.
Most of the region’s exchanges fell with analysts blaming the lacklustre US results from companies including social networking giant Facebook and carmakers.
European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi on Thursday said a meeting between US President Donald Trump and European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker to ease trade tensions was “a good sign”, even if it was too soon to judge its outcome.
“It’s a good sign, because in a sense it shows that there is a willingness to discuss trade issues in a multilateral framework again,” Draghi told reporters in Frankfurt. THE Ministry of Tourism has launched a new mobile app called Cambodia Best Hospitality, which aims to improve the sector, a ministry official said.
Chhay Khunlong, deputy director-general of the ministry’s tourist industry department, said on Thursday that the office was now working to promote the app and lift standards in the industry.
“We already have a website, and now we launched a mobile app in order to provide convenience for tourists and give them the tools to evaluate the quality and cleanliness of venues across the country,” he said.
‘Clean city’
Over 40 listings have initially been included in the directory, with various municipalities vying for the “clean city” distinction, said Khunlong.
“We want to promote the quality and standards of the tourism sector, so the app will help evaluate strengths and shortcomings,” he said