World share markets struggled to regain their poise yesterday, with hopes pinned on a modest Wall Street recovery after both Europe and Asia had fallen on tech and trade war tensions.
Traders were looking to a near $25 billion float of music app Spotify to lift the tech gloom, after a clobbering on Monday had pushed the S&P 500, Dow and Nasdaq below pivotal technical levels.
Having been shut on Monday and feeling that impact a day later, Europe’s main bourses in London, Paris and Frankfurt were down 0.2 to 0.9 per cent.
Tech stocks remained the pressure point there too after more criticism of Amazon by United States President Donald Trump and as reports that Apple intended to make more of its own parts burnt European chipmakers including AMS and STMicroelectronics.
Some signs of stability were emerging, however.
As well Wall Street futures pointing 0.4 per cent higher, the dollar steadied against the yen after three days of falls and safety plays like gold and government bonds were back in reverse.
Asia’s shares had stumbled overnight, although its moves too had been small compared to Wall Street where the S&P 500 closed below its 200-day moving average for the first time since Britain’s 2016 vote to leave the European Union.
As well as the tech problems, investors were wary after China imposed extra tariffs on 128 United States products, deepening a dispute between the world’s two biggest economies and stoking concerns about the impact on global growth.
“China does not provoke a trade war, and doesn’t want to fight a trade war, but we also aren’t afraid of a trade war,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang told a news briefing.
Japan’s Nikkei ended down 0.45 per cent, after initially falling as much as 1.6 per cent. China’s Shanghai Composite index eased 0.9 per cent and the blue-chip CSI300 was off 0.7 per cent.
The slight recovery in risk appetite meant US Treasuries, German Bunds and UK Gilts all saw a bit of selling too in Europe. Yields on 10-year notes were all off two- to three-month lows.
Among the main commodities, Brent oil futures nudged back up towards $68 a barrel.
They had fallen more than 3.7 per cent on Monday after signs of rising Russian output and possible Saudi price cuts had compounded weaker US and Chinese data on Monday and the escalating trade dispute between the two countries.
United States crude gained 14 cents to $63.15, copper jumped 1.4 per cent for its fourth straight gain and spot gold ticked down 0.2 per cent to $1,338.08 an ounce.