Global stock markets spooked by Trump’s travel curbs
LONDON: World stocks were spooked yesterday by US President Donald Trump’s controversial travel ban, which dealers said may be just an early taste of coming turmoil prompted by the new US leader.
Asian and European equities kicked off the downward spiral and were joined by Wall Street as New York trading got underway, with the Dow average waving goodbye to its 20,000 level.
“Global indices have started on the back foot after US President Trump announced one of his most radical policies yet, in the form of a travel ban,” said CMC Markets analyst Michael Hewson.
Investors are beginning to lose confidence in Trump’s ability “not to cause damage to the US economy”, he said.
Trump on Friday signed an executive order banning entry to travellers from seven Muslimmajority countries that was met with widespread outrage from world leaders and global protests.
There was “an air of caution” on stock markets which had seen major rallies after Trump’s election based on fiscal promises, noted Jameel Ahmad, an analyst at FXTM.
He said it was difficult to believe “that investors are not now reconsidering what damage Trump might do by implementing other promises that supplemented an incoherent and ranting political campaign”.
In Europe, at around 1445 GMT, London’s FTSE 100 was down 0.9%, Frankfurt’s DAX 30 and Paris’ CAC 40 were each weaker by 1.0% and the EuroStoxx 50 slipped 1.1%.
In Asia earlier, trade in share markets was thinned by the Lunar New Year holidays. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan lost 0.5%. Australian shares closed down 0.9%. Tokyo’s benchmark Nikkei 225 index ended down 0.51% as demand for the safe-haven yen weighed on exporters.
In foreign exchange, the dollar dived against its major peers on the back of Trump woes in Asian business, before recovering later. – AFP