US
Investors were bearish as the S&P 500 dropped 46 points after touching a record high of 3026 last week, along with the Dow losing 280 points as President Trump announced his plans of imposing a 10% tariff on goods imported from China. The ongoing escalation of the US-China trade war has caused American firms to reduce their dependence on China by moving production “in-house”, thus causing production prices to surge as well.
As earnings season continues, Apple Inc. stock hit a record high of $213 as investor sentiments were matched with a positive earnings report for this Quarter, backed by greater earnings than the previous year’s June quarter. Apple is slowly pivoting from its dependence on its iPhone lineup and spreading their revenue.
Amazon earnings were estimated at $4.4 Billion last week, but investors were left disappointed as earning reports released by the firm missed the mark by over 25% causing Amazon share price to drop 4% this week.
Dow drops 280 points as Trump announces 10% tariffs on $300 billion Chinese goods from September onwards. American companies are reducing their dependence on China as the trade war escalates and increases production costs.
ASIA
Asian stocks followed the trend of US markets with Hong Kong’s Hang Seng and Japan’s Nikkei indices losing over 500 points after Trump announced fresh tariffs on Chinese goods and manufacturing activity in China contracts.
Tariff threats also caused the Japanese yen to jump to a five week high when compared to the Dollar, while China’s yuan dropped to an 8-month low.
Meanwhile in India, the benchmark Sensex dropped 5% after the country announced a poor budget, credit crunch and slow corporate earnings.
In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 reached a 12 year high, led by the Technology and Materials sectors.
EUROPE
The European market sank as President Trump announced his plans for imposing tariffs on Chinese imports causing the STOXX600 to plummet by 1.6% to a 6 week low on Thursday.
Additionally, Royal Dutch Shell dropped 5% after oil and gas prices fell short of expectations while Societe Generale rose 5.7% after it beat expectations.
Amid Brexit No-Deal fearsThe Bank of England cut interest rates and slashed growth forecasts. With less than 100 days left till England leave the EU, UK’s financial conditions remain volatile.
On the other hand, Barclays rose 1.3% as their net profits beat analyst expectations of 1.03 billion pounds.
