Global Stocks
The end the most turbulent month of the year so far was approaching and amid ongoing and fierce U.S-China trade tensions investors seemed content to square up some positions.
MSCI world equity index, which tracks shares in 47 countries, was down slightly at 0905 GMT, as investors shunned assets considered risky in times of economic and political strife.
Chinese Vice Premier Liu He was heading to Washington for two days of talks but Trump’s insistence that China “broke the deal”, and then Beijing’s response that it would retaliate against tariffs were ratcheting up the stakes.
London dipped 0.2 percent as it had to play catch-up after a long weekend, but Frankfurt, Paris and the pan-European STOXX 600 index all flitted between gains and losses.
Oil and metals markets added to the pressure on stocks on Thursday with traders sending copper to a 2-month low.
European shares followed Asia lower, pulling back from eight-month highs, with the pan-regional STOXX 600 index slipping 0.4 percent.
Oil prices jumped to near six-month highs on Tuesday as the United States tightened sanctions on Iran, sending shares of energy companies higher but largely failing to help the currencies of the main crude-oil producers.
Sterling was also hit by a bout of Brexit blues after a round of votes in the U.K. parliament failed to produce any new plan to manage its divorce from the European Union.
Spreadbetters expected European stocks to follow, with Britain's FTSE .FTSE seen dropping 0.7 percent, Germany's DAX .GDAXI 1.1 percent and France's CAC .FCHI 1 percent.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS gained 0.6 percent after slumping on Wednesday to its weakest since early April.
Spreadbetters expected European stocks to open lower, with Britain’s FTSE falling 0.7 percent, Germany’s DAX losing 0.8 percent and France’s CAC dropping 0.85 percent.
The Egyptian Exchange (EGX) ended Tuesday in red, effected by the decline of global stocks as U.S. stocks fall their worst in more than six years.
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