World shares retreat on rise in Sino-U.S. tensions
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[July 24, 2020]
By Tom Arnold and Wayne Cole
LONDON/SYDNEY (Reuters) - Global shares
skidded further from five-month peaks on Friday as a bounce back in
European business activity did little to ease the jitters surrounding
Sino-U.S. tensions, while gold approached a record high.
The mood darkened after Beijing ordered the United States to close its
consulate in Chengdu, in retaliation for being told to shut its
consulate in Houston earlier this week.
"An escalation in U.S.-China tensions that could have hugely negative
consequences on stock market leadership, particularly around the US tech
giants, is worrying," said International markets analysis and insights
from Stephen Innes, Chief Global Market Strategist at AxiCorp.
"Even more so, if President Trump pulls the free pass into China, and
things could turn quite ugly into the weekend as traders will have no
option but pare risk."
Unsurprisingly, Chinese blue chips led the declines, retreating 4.4%,
wiping out a week of gains.
European shares were on course for their worst day in a month, with the
pan-region Euro Stoxx 50 down 1.9%.
Technology stocks led losses, following their U.S. peers overnight,
while the China-sensitive basic materials sector lost 2.4%.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan lost 1.9%.
Tokyo was closed for a holiday, but Nikkei futures were trading 1%
lower.
E-Mini futures for the S&P 500 edged down 0.8%.
Investors took little comfort from purchasing managers' index (PMI) data
which showed euro zone business activity bounced back to growth in July
as more parts of the economy that were locked down to curtail the spread
of the coronavirus reopened.
British businesses experienced the fastest upturn in five years during
July and data for the United States follow later in the day.
The market's dogged optimism on economic recovery had been challenged on
Thursday by data showing the number of Americans filing for unemployment
benefits unexpectedly rose last week for the first time in nearly four
months.
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The euro was at $1.16020, close to its highest level since October
2018, having enjoyed a winning streak for all of July, as the
European Union's passing of a 750 billion-euro recovery fund
restored confidence.
The yen was up 0.6% at 106.25, its highest since June 23.
The Chinese yuan, a barometer of Sino-U.S. tensions, looks set for
its worst week in three months. It was down 0.2% at 7.0276 per
dollar in the offshore market.
Italy's 10-year bond yield was steady at around 1.05%, holding near
Thursday's 4-1/2 month low at 1.04%. Germany's Bund yield was a
touch lower on Friday at -0.49%.
The combination of super-loose money and negative real bond yields
has burnished the attractiveness of gold, which pays no yield but is
supply constrained.
The precious metal was last at $1,894.23 an ounce for its biggest
weekly gain in more than three months as it held firm near a
nine-year high.
Analysts at RBC Capital Markets noted gold-backed exchange traded
product holdings had already reached record peaks.
"The level of COVID-19 uncertainty, low and negative real and
nominal rates, politics and geopolitics have driven gold prices
sharply higher, and pushed allocations among investors ever higher,"
they said in a note.
Oil prices were ending the week on a flat note, having failed to
hold a five-month high as worries about global demand offset a
weaker U.S. dollar.
Brent crude was down 1 cent at $43.30 a barrel, while U.S. West
Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude up 1 cent at $41.08.
(Graphic by Vidya Ranganathan; Editing by Toby Chopra)
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