LONDON: World stock markets traded sideways Monday as trade war fears continued to hamper investor sentiment, dealers said.

Key eurozone markets Frankfurt and Paris reversed early small gains to close flat to lower, while the British pound’s weakness kept London stocks in slightly positive territory.

On Wall Street, the Dow was little changed approaching midday in New York “as escalated trade tensions between China and the US continue to curb conviction”, analysts at the Charles Schwab brokerage said.

But the S&P, where PepsiCo shares rose after CEO Indra Nooyi said she was stepping down, was slightly up, as was the Nasdaq.

Earlier, an equities rally in Asia petered out on concerns about the brewing China-US trade war, while the yuan struggled to maintain momentum after the Chinese central bank moved to support the unit.

“European bourses are struggling to keep their heads above water ... as trade war fears eroded gains in Asian markets,” said Fiona Cincotta, senior analyst at City Index.

“The escalating trade war between the US and China is continuing to hit Chinese stock markets and the yuan although the country’s central bank stepped in Monday to support the currency.

“The trade dispute is showing no signs of abating on either side with China saying on Friday it plans to bring in tariffs on $60 billion worth of US goods.”

Who can last longer?

“It could end up being a case of who can last longer in terms of taking financial damage from the rising tariffs.” Traders in Asia had started the day on an upbeat note, after data on Friday showed that while the US economy saw a slowdown in jobs creation in July, the pace of hiring remained strong over the past three months.

The report also showed wage growth remained tepid, helping ease worries about an overheating economy.

The result provided some much-needed cheer to markets, which brushed off a warning from Beijing that it would impose new tariffs if Washington pushes ahead with levies on $200bn of Chinese imports.

However, while reports said unofficial talks have been held between Beijing and Washington, trade tensions continue to rise, with a top White House adviser calling China a bad bet and saying its economy — the world’s second biggest — was struggling.

In forex trading, the pound dipped after International Trade Secretary Liam Fox declared over the weekend that the chances of a no-deal Brexit were now “60-40”, laying the blame on EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier.

Sterling was also fighting to recover from Friday’s sell-off after Bank of England boss Mark Carney warned that the chance of leaving the EU without a deal was “uncomfortably high” and “highly undesirable”.

In emerging markets, the Turkish lira hit fresh lows against the dollar and euro as strains caused by a diplomatic spat with the United States compounded concerns over domestic economic policy.

Published in Dawn, August 7th, 2018