European shares start pivotal week lower
The pan-European STOXX 600 index closed 0.1% lower, retreating from gains earlier in the day, but still hovering near its highest level since July 31.
Investors will be bracing for the summit on Friday in Alaska, where Kyiv fears Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump may try to dictate terms for ending the 3-1/2-year war.
A German government spokesperson said, however, that European leaders will
hold a virtual meeting with Trump ahead of the summit, after they backed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to take part in the talks.
Hopes of a peace deal weighed on German defence companies, with Rheinmetall dropping 4.6%, while Renk fell 1.6%.
Germany's benchmark index slipped 0.4%, while the broader aerospace and defence index was off 1.1%, after hitting an over one-month low in the session.
'The provision of defence equipment has largely shifted over the last few months, Europe is now providing a lot more of the defence to Ukraine,' said Craig Cameron, portfolio manager and research analyst at Templeton Global Equity Group, on the impact of a potential peace deal on European defence firms.
A 29.6% plunge in Danish wind farm developer Orsted after it unveiled a 60-billion-crown ($9.4 billion) rights issue also weighed on stocks.
The stock hit a record low and was the biggest decliner on the STOXX 600.
Meanwhile, the August 12 deadline for a deal between the US and China looms, with markets expecting a deadline extension and a deal that would avoid imposing triple-digit tariffs on each other's goods.
Despite concerns about Trump's tariffs, a strong US earnings season driven by AI optimism, and expectations of interest rate cuts from the US Federal Reserve have pushed US stocks to record highs, dimming the appeal of European equities that were outperforming US peers in the first half of the year.
'The story (has) shifted back to, in particular, the US as tariff deals were negotiated lower and companies like Nvidia and Microsoft have really driven the market higher,' said Cameron.
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Express Tribune
7 minutes ago
- Express Tribune
Trump says Putin likely to make Ukraine deal
United States President Donald Trump said on Thursday that he believes Russian President Vladimir Putin will make a deal on his war on Ukraine and that the threat of sanctions against Russia likely played a role in Moscow's decision to seek a meeting. Trump is scheduled to meet with Putin in Alaska tomorrow. The US president said he is unsure whether an immediate ceasefire can be achieved, but expressed interest in brokering a peace agreement. 'I believe now, he's convinced that he's going to make a deal. He's going to make a deal. I think he's going to, and we're going to find out,' Trump said in an interview on Fox News Radio's 'The Brian Kilmeade Show'. Read More: Alaska summit a 'victory' for Putin: Zelensky Trump also mentioned during the Fox interview that he has three locations in mind for a follow-up meeting with Putin and Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky, though he noted that a second meeting is not guaranteed. He said staying in Alaska for a three-way summit would be the easiest scenario. 'Depending on what happens with my meeting, I'm going to be calling up President Zelensky, and let's get him over to wherever we're going to meet,' Trump said. He said a second meeting, featuring Trump, Putin and Zelensky, would likely dig deeper into boundary issues. Zelensky has been adamant about not ceding territory that Russian forces occupy. 'The second meeting is going to be very, very important, because that's going to be a meeting where they make a deal. And I don't want to use the word 'divvy things up', but you know, to a certain extent, it's not a bad term, okay?' he said. 'But there will be a give and take as to boundaries, lands, etc, etc. The second meeting is going to be very, very, very important. This meeting sets up like a chess game. This [first] meeting sets up a second meeting, but there is a 25 per cent chance that this meeting will not be a successful meeting,' he said. He said it would be up to Putin and Zelensky to strike an agreement. 'I'm not going to negotiate their deal. I'm going to let them negotiate their deal,' he said. Earlier today, Putin spoke to his most senior ministers and security officials as he prepared for a meeting with Trump in Anchorage, Alaska, that could shape the endgame to the largest war in Europe since World War Two. In televised comments, Putin said the US was 'making, in my opinion, quite energetic and sincere efforts to stop the hostilities, stop the crisis and reach agreements that are of interest to all parties involved in this conflict'. Also Read: Russian forces pierce Ukraine lines This was happening, Putin said, 'in order to create long-term conditions for peace between our countries, and in Europe, and in the world as a whole — if, by the next stages, we reach agreements in the area of control over strategic offensive weapons.' His comments signalled that Russia will raise nuclear arms control as part of a wide-ranging discussion on security when he sits down with Trump. A Kremlin aide said Putin and Trump would also discuss the 'huge untapped potential' for Russia-US economic ties. A senior Eastern European official, who requested anonymity to discuss sensitive matters, said Putin would try to distract Trump from Ukraine at the talks by offering him possible progress on nuclear arms control or something business-related. 'We hope Trump won't be fooled by the Russians; he understands all [these] dangerous things,' the official said, adding that Russia's only goal was to avoid any new sanctions and have existing sanctions lifted. Russia controls around a fifth of Ukraine, and Zelensky and the Europeans worry that a deal could cement those gains, rewarding Putin for 11 years of efforts to seize Ukrainian land and emboldening him to expand further into Europe. An EU diplomat said it would be 'scary to see how it all unfolds in the coming hours. Trump had very good calls yesterday with Europe, but that was yesterday'. Trump had shown willingness to join the security guarantees for Ukraine at a last-ditch virtual meeting with European leaders and Zelensky on Wednesday, European leaders said, though he made no public mention of them afterwards. Friday's summit, the first Russia-US summit since June 2021, comes at one of the toughest moments for Ukraine in a war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced millions since Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022. Speaking after Wednesday's meeting, French President Emmanuel Macron said Trump had said the transatlantic Nato alliance should not be part of any security guarantees designed to protect Ukraine from future attacks in a post-war settlement. However, Trump also said the US and all willing allies should be part of the security guarantees, Macron added. Expanding on that, a European official told Reuters that Trump said on the call he was willing to provide some security guarantees for Europe, without spelling out what they would be. It 'felt like a big step forward,' said the official, who did not want to be named. It was not immediately clear what such guarantees could mean in practice. On Wednesday, Trump threatened 'severe consequences' if Putin does not agree to peace in Ukraine and has warned of economic sanctions if his meeting on Friday proves fruitless. Russia is likely to resist Ukraine and Europe's demands and has previously said its stance had not changed since it was first detailed by Putin in June 2024.
Business Recorder
4 hours ago
- Business Recorder
Trump says Putin summit a prelude to real Ukraine dealmaking
WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump said Thursday his Alaska summit with Russia's Vladimir Putin could fail but was merely a prelude to a second, three-way meeting where the substantive dealmaking over the Ukraine war would happen. Trump and his Russian counterpart will hold talks aimed at settling the Ukraine conflict at their landmark summit at a US air base outside Anchorage on Friday. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is not scheduled to take part but Trump has suggested there might be a second meeting involving both leaders if the first was successful. 'This meeting sets up the second meeting. The second meeting is going to be very, very important, because that's going to be a meeting where they make a deal,' Trump told Fox News Radio. Trump-Putin summit to take place on US military base 'And I don't want to use the word 'divvy' things up. But you know, to a certain extent, it's not a bad term, okay?' A stepped-up Russian offensive and Zelenskyy's exclusion from Friday's meeting have heightened fears in Europe that Trump and Putin could strike a deal that forces painful concessions on Ukraine. The US leader initially said there would be some 'land swapping going on,' but appeared to have walked that back after speaking with European leaders on Wednesday. But his remarks to Fox News Radio suggested he had not taken some kind of exchange of territory off the table. He added that he saw a '25 percent chance that this meeting will not be a successful meeting.'
Business Recorder
5 hours ago
- Business Recorder
India wants US ties based on mutual respect, says its arms purchases are on course
NEW DELHI: India said on Thursday that it hoped relations with the United States would move forward based on mutual respect and shared interests, seeking to temper worries that ties were headed downhill in the aftermath of high tariffs imposed by Washington. A U.S. defence policy team will be in New Delhi this month for talks with Indian officials and its arms purchases from the U.S. are on course despite the strain in ties, the Indian foreign ministry said. A new friendship built between the two countries has hit a rough patch after President Donald Trump raised tariffs on Indian goods to 50% last week from an earlier 25% saying it was a penalty for India's continued imports of Russian oil. New Delhi has accused the U.S. of double standards in singling it out for Russian oil imports and called the tariffs unfair, unjustified and unreasonable. At the same time, it has also indicated that the warming of ties that began at the turn of the century covers a wide range of areas and should not be seen only through the prism of trade, although it hopes that trade talks will continue and result in a deal. Ties with Pakistan, India remain unchanged: US 'This partnership has weathered several transitions and challenges…and we hope that the relationship will continue to move forward based on mutual respect and shared interests,' Indian foreign ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal told a regular media briefing. Purchases of military equipment from Washington were on course, Jaiswal said, adding that a U.S. defence policy team was expected in Delhi this month. Reuters reported last week that India has put on hold its plans to procure new U.S. weapons and aircraft and that a planned trip to Washington by the Indian defence minister had been cancelled. The Indian government subsequently said reports of a pause in the talks were wrong.
