US: Wall Street opens lower after Trump's steel tariff threat
[NEW YORK] Wall Street's main indices opened lower on Monday (Jun 2) after US President Donald Trump revealed plans to double tariffs on imported steel and aluminium, fuelling more uncertainty around US trade policies.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 70.1 points, or 0.17 per cent, at the open to 42,199.94. The S&P 500 fell 15 points, or 0.25 per cent, to 5,896.68, while the Nasdaq Composite dropped 50.7 points, or 0.27 per cent, to 19,063.06. Reuters
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Straits Times
39 minutes ago
- Straits Times
China considers ordering hundreds of Airbus jets in major deal: Sources
A high-profile deal with Airbus would allow Chinese President Xi Jinping to send a message to US President Donald Trump over trade. PHOTO: REUTERS LONDON - China is considering placing an order for hundreds of Airbus aircraft as soon as next month, when European leaders visit Beijing to celebrate the countries' long-term ties, according to people familiar with the matter. Deliberations are underway with Chinese airlines about the size of a potential order, said the people. A deal could involve about 300 planes and include both narrowbody and widebody models, they said, with one person saying the order could range between 200 and as many as 500 aircraft. Negotiations are fluid and could fall apart or take longer to reach a conclusion, the people said. Airbus declined to comment. Representatives for the Civil Aviation Administration of China didn't respond to a faxed request for comment. French President Emmanuel Macron and Chancellor Friedrich Merz of Germany are among leaders that may visit Beijing in July to mark 50 years of diplomatic relations between China and the European Union. Their countries are the two biggest owners of Airbus, and a high-profile deal with the planemaker would allow Chinese President Xi Jinping to send a message to US President Donald Trump over trade. China and the United States – the world's two biggest economies – are at loggerheads over trade rules that Mr Trump is determined to reset during his second presidential term. Should the two sides resolve their differences, Airbus rival Boeing could potentially win big – the US planemaker is America's biggest exporter and a jet sale was featured in a US-UK trade deal in May. To date, however, Boeing has been penalised in China. In April, authorities in Beijing told airlines to stop taking deliveries of Boeing jets. Trade tensions and the crises that befell the 737 Max jet date back years, and have given Airbus an upper hand in what was once a carefully balanced market between the two dominant planemakers. Widebodies would be a significant portion of a new Airbus order, the people said, with one person saying the A330neo, the planemaker's smallest twin-aisle model, could win some sales. The number of twin-aisle jets in backlog for China's state-run and privately operated carriers has dwindled, as Boeing has traditionally sold more in the market. Should the order run to 500 planes it would rank as one of the biggest ever and certainly the largest for China, eclipsing an order for about 300 single-aisle Airbus jets made in 2022 that was then worth around $37 billion. Air India inked an order for 470 Airbus and Boeing planes back in 2023 and another Indian airline, IndiGo, placed a record-breaking order with Airbus in mid 2023 for 500 narrowbody aircraft. Boeing hasn't won a major order from China since at least 2017 due to trade tensions and self-inflicted issues. In 2019, China became the first nation to ground the 737 Max following two deadly crashes. Trade disputes with the Biden and first Trump administrations also helped tilt Chinese orders toward Airbus. Then in 2024, Boeing suffered a quality crisis when a door plug blew out mid-flight in January. Any deal would likely be carried out through China's state-run aircraft procurement body, which typically negotiates on behalf of the country's airlines. BLOOMBERG Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Business Times
2 hours ago
- Business Times
Asia: Stocks track Wall Street up after jobs data, Seoul surges on Lee win
[HONG KONG] Asian shares extended a global rise on Wednesday following data indicating the US economy remained resilient, with South Korean equities and the won standing out as the election of a new president ended months of political paralysis. Speculation that US President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping will speak this week stoked optimism for a soothing of trade tensions between Washington and Beijing. However, Trump's ramped-up tariffs on aluminium and steel imports - announced on Friday - are due to kick in later Wednesday, highlighting the uncertainty caused by the White House's off-the-cuff policies. Traders in Asia took the baton from a positive Wall Street, where all three main indexes were lifted by data showing US job openings unexpectedly rose in April, calming worries about the impact of Trump's tariff blitz on the world's number one economy. The reading came ahead of crucial non-farm payrolls figures on Friday, which are closely followed by the US Federal Reserve as it maps monetary policy in light of weak growth and fears of tariff-fuelled inflation. 'Growth is sputtering, the second half looks increasingly cloudy, and everyone knows the Fed's rate-cut cavalry will ride in eventually. It's already priced, already scripted - no one's shocked by the plot twist unless, of course, inflation proves stickier than expected,' said Stephen Innes at SPI Asset Management. BT in your inbox Start and end each day with the latest news stories and analyses delivered straight to your inbox. Sign Up Sign Up 'But what's genuinely keeping equities ticking higher is the soft hum of hope - that US-China tensions could thaw into something warmer than their current frosty detente,' Innes said. He added that the risk of tariffs, 'once a terrifying monster, now looks more like a toothless terrier's wag, comforting investors enough to hold their ground despite the global economy's chills'. Traders are awaiting further developments on the China-US front after White House officials said the two nations' leaders could talk this week, even after Trump accused Beijing of violating last month's detente that slashed tit-for-tat tariffs. News that eurozone inflation had eased in May to its lowest level in eight months - and slipped back below the European Central Bank's two-per cent target - added to the upbeat mood. Tokyo, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Sydney, Wellington, Taipei, Manila and Jakarta all rose. Seoul rallied more than two per cent - pushing into a bull market after rising more than 20 percent from its recent low - as Lee Jae Myung won South Korea's snap presidential election. The won gained around 0.3 per cent. The poll was called after the impeachment of predecessor Yoon Suk Yeol over his brief martial law attempt and ended six months of political turmoil in the country. It has also raised hopes that Lee will introduce fresh measures to boost the export-dependent economy, which faces a hefty hit from Trump's tariffs, particularly the huge levies on steel and aluminium. In his inauguration speech on Wednesday, the new president warned protectionism posed a threat to the country's 'survival'. On the campaign trail, Lee said Seoul needed to start tariff negotiations with Washington 'immediately' but also stressed there was no need to 'rush' a deal. AFP
Business Times
3 hours ago
- Business Times
China consumers get thrifty during holidays as spending stumbles
[BEIJING] Chinese consumer spending faltered during a major holiday even as more people hit the road, suggesting a trade truce with the US is failing to turn around sentiment in an economy reeling from US President Donald Trump's tariffs. Travellers spent more than 42.7 billion yuan (S$7.7 billion) during a total of 119 million domestic trips made during the three-day Dragon Boat Festival public holiday, each up more than 5 per cent from a year earlier, figures provided by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism showed on Tuesday (Jun 3). That means spending per trip was only 359 yuan, down 2.2 per cent on year, according to Bloomberg calculations based on the official numbers. The decline was even steeper when compared with the Tomb-Sweeping Festival in April, which also lasted for three days, when people shelled out 457 yuan per trip. Holiday spending is an important yardstick for the strength of Chinese consumption – long the weak link in the US$19 trillion economy that's now looking to domestic demand to offset shocks from abroad and absorb excess manufacturing capacity. The Dragon Boat Festival commemorates the ancient poet Qu Yuan with boat races and is marked by eating traditional rice dumplings. It's one of China's seven long public holidays that people traditionally use to shop, travel and relax. The celebratory mood during the holiday that ended on Monday was relatively muted across parts of China's consumer economy, especially as large swathes of the country saw rainy weather. BT in your inbox Start and end each day with the latest news stories and analyses delivered straight to your inbox. Sign Up Sign Up While the box office during the festival rose 21 per cent on year to 460 million yuan, it was only about half the level logged during the same break in 2023, according to data compiled by online ticketing platform Maoyan Entertainment. A total of 5.9 million cross-border trips were made, up 2.7 per cent from a year earlier, figures from the National Immigration Administration showed. Inbound trips by foreigners jumped 59 per cent on year during the holiday, as China allowed visa-free travel for 43 countries. The latest data provided a glimpse into consumption momentum in China, where households have been cautious about splurging amid job and income uncertainties. The economy is still grappling with domestic woes such as a property slump, deflation, and trade tensions with the US. Analysts surveyed by Bloomberg forecast year-on-year growth in retail sales will slow for a second straight month in May. Despite the agreement to pause the punitive tariffs following last month's bilateral talks in Geneva, the average rate of US levies on Chinese goods is still elevated at roughly 40 per cent, hitting smaller exporters hard and forcing them to shrink payrolls. China's manufacturing sector had its worst slump since September 2022 in May, with new orders contracting and companies cutting staffing levels, according to results of a private survey published jointly by Caixin and S&P Global on Tuesday. 'Looking ahead, we see upcoming summer break performance as more important to assess travel demand and believe investors will likely monitor domestic weekly hotel data closely,' Citigroup analysts Brian Gong and Alicia Yap wrote in a note. BLOOMBERG
