Trade woes drag down stock markets

Trade war worries permeated European stock markets on Thursday, eating into the previous day's hard-won gains as mixed signals from the White House fuelled uncertainty.

Focus was also on Brussels, where EU leaders facing deep divisions on migration meet for a summit that the embattled German Chancellor Angela Merkel said could decide the fate of the bloc itself.

Escalated trade concerns were "continuing to hamper sentiment and drain conviction", said Charles Schwab analysts.

"The recovery in the stock markets could not last long," said Fawad Razaqzada, a market analyst at Forex.com.

Trade fears were being compounded by expectations that borrowing costs will steadily rise worldwide, causing investors to feel "downbeat", he added.

Concerns about the Chinese economy are adding to a knock in confidence, with the yuan continuing to weaken and mainland stocks now in bear market territory having fallen more than 20 percent from recent highs.

- Get used to it -

"Once again European indices are trading in the red," noted Craig Erlam, senior market analyst at Oanda trading group.

"We may have to get used to this risk averse environment in the near-term," he added.

Dealers are struggling to get a handle on the situation owing to confusion over US President Donald Trump's trade strategy.

Trump appears to have backed away from a plan to impose tough new restrictions on Chinese investment in the United States, soothing concerns about a conflagration between the world's top economies.

At the same time, however, the president's economic advisor and trade hawk Larry Kudlow warned that stern measures were still being contemplated.

Key eurozone indices were one percent or more lower at the close, while London ended the day just a touch weaker.

By that time, Wall Street traded slightly firmer after gyrating between positive and negative territory over the New York morning.

Shares of US-listed pharmacy retailers were hammered after Amazon said it was acquiring online pharmacy PillPack, its biggest move yet into healthcare.

Neil Saunders of the research firm GlobalData Retail, said the Amazon acquisition "is a warning shot" for the pharmacy sector.

- Trade war hurts yuan -

The yuan is also at the weakest level against the dollar since December, having endured one of its worst runs since a mid-2015 devaluation that sparked a global market meltdown.

The dollar, in turn, was trading weaker against the euro after the Commerce Department revised down US growth figures for the first quarter.

Shares prices of energy firms meanwhile extended recent gains after crude hit a new three-and-a-half year high on data showing US stockpiles plunged by the most since 2016.

- Key figures around 1545 GMT -

London - FTSE 100: DOWN 0.1 percent at 7,615.63 points (close)

Frankfurt - DAX 30: DOWN 1.4 percent at 12,177.23 (close)

Paris - CAC 40: DOWN 1.0 percent at 5,275.64 (close)

EURO STOXX 50: DOWN 0.9 percent at 3,365.52

New York - Dow Jones: UP 0.2 percent at 24,165.02

Tokyo - Nikkei 225: FLAT at 22,270.39 (close)

Hong Kong - Hang Seng: UP 0.5 percent at 28,497.32 (close)

Shanghai - Composite: DOWN 0.9 percent at 2,786.90(close)

Euro/dollar: UP at $1.1581 from $1.1559 at 2100 GMT

Pound/dollar: DOWN at $1.3087 from $1.3117

Dollar/yen: DOWN at 110.35 yen from 110.27 yen

Oil - Brent Crude: UP 23 cents at $77.69 per barrel

Oil - West Texas Intermediate: UP 97 cents at $73.7

(AFP/APP)