August 17, 2020: European stock markets closed firmer on Monday but Wall Street was mixed as investors kept a wary eye on simmering US-China tensions and continued Democrat-Republican wrangling over a US coronavirus stimulus package.

Wall Street opened slightly higher after positive housing data and as the tech-rich Nasdaq — up 0.8 percent — continued to lead the market but the Dow then slipped back.

Record figures for new-build single-family homes helped sentiment but were not enough to sustain the modest opening gains on the Dow, with investors unsettled by continued US-China tensions and the apparent impasse over a new coronavirus economic support package.

Concerns were stoked again after high-level talks between Washington and Beijing on the status of their “phase one” trade agreement did not take place as planned Saturday, with no new date set.

US President Donald Trump has continued to ratchet up tensions with Beijing ahead of the November election in the face of opinion polls showing him trailing Democrat Joe Biden in key battleground states.

China on Monday slammed Washington for using “digital gunboat diplomacy” after Trump ordered TikTok's Chinese owner ByteDance to sell its interest in the Musical.ly app it bought and merged with TikTok.

Uncertainty over the status of the trade talks “has added to the frosty situation,” noted David Madden, analyst at CMC Markets UK.

“The lack of agreement between Republicans and Democrats in relation to the stimulus deal remains a concern too.”

– US stimulus deal expected –

Hopes for any movement before the end of the month are slim, but the consensus opinion is that a deal will eventually be struck.

“Despite the stimulus package appearing to be in a standstill, the markets appear to be taking the view that major fiscal legislation is inevitable,” said AxiCorp's Stephen Innes.

While the coronavirus continues to flare up around the world, forcing the reimposition of containment measures, analysts said stocks will likely continue rising thanks to unprecedented backing from central banks.

In Asia, Tokyo's main stocks index closed down 0.8 percent Monday after data showed a record contraction of the Japanese economy in the second quarter.

“Investors cashed in on recent gains,” said Toshikazu Horiuchi, a broker at IwaiCosmo Securities.

“GDP figures were largely within expectations” but reconfirmed the sizable impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the Japanese economy, Horiuchi told AFP.

The April-June GDP figures showed that the economy shrank a record 7.8 percent quarter-on-quarter, the worst contraction in the nation's modern history.

– Key figures around 1600 GMT –

• London – FTSE 100: UP 0.75 percent at 6,135.52 points
• Frankfurt – DAX 30: UP 0.15 percent at 12,920.66
• Paris – CAC 40: UP 0.2 percent at 4,971.94
• EURO STOXX 50: UP 0.2 percent at 3,310.79
• New York – Dow: DOWN 0.25 percent at 27,851.82
• Tokyo – Nikkei 225: DOWN 0.8 percent at 23,096.75 (close)
• Hong Kong – Hang Seng: UP 0.7 percent at 25,347.34 (close)
• Shanghai – Composite: UP 2.3 percent at 3,438.80 (close)
• Euro/dollar: UP at $1.1867 from $1.1839 at 2100 GMT
• Dollar/yen: DOWN at 105.99 yen from 106.62 yen
• Pound/dollar: UP at $1.3104 from $1.3086
• Euro/pound: UP at 90.60 pence from 90.46 pence
• West Texas Intermediate: UP 1.05 percent at $42.45 per barrel
• Brent North Sea crude: UP 0.6 percent at $45.05 per barrel

AFP/APP

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