Stocks consolidate after bumper week buoyed by resilient US economy
London (AFP)US and European stock markets stalled or trimmed gains on Friday after a bullish week buoyed by US data and upbeat company earnings.New York -- whose S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite struck record highs on Thursday -- mainly held on to gains but made little further headway. The Dow fell.In Europe, London's blue-chip FTSE was up though just under its all-time record reached on Tuesday. Paris was flat and Frankfurt slipped a little on profit-taking.Asian markets had closed higher -- except for Tokyo, which was dragged down ahead of weekend upper-house elections that could spell trouble for Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba.The week's strong performance in equities showed that worries -- for now -- were largely being set aside over US President Donald Trump's threats of piling on further tariffs from August 1 if governments did not agree on trade deals."With the president toning down his rhetoric, markets are quick to forget tariff risks and concentrate on the positives including a resilient US economy," Kathleen Brooks, research director at trading firm XTB, said.The overall optimism was fuelled by data suggesting the US economy was still well, with no persuasive indication that the tariffs were pushing up inflation.A June consumer price index report released this week "does not reveal tariff-induced price increases, but a closer look shows clear signs" they could be building, said Holger Schmieding, chief economist at Berenberg bank.One Federal Reserve governor, Christopher Waller, on Thursday argued for a July rate cut, saying he saw limited upside inflation risks.Trump this week denied he was planning to sack Fed boss Jerome Powell, whom he had been urging to reduce US borrowing costs to further boost the world's top economy.A meeting in South Africa of G20 finance ministers on Friday pointedly stressed that "central bank independence is crucial" around the world.In corporate news, American Express followed big US banks in reporting better-than-expected second-quarter results.Results from streaming giant Netflix also outperformed -- though its share price slipped on Friday as investors weighed whether it had been overvalued.
In London, British luxury brand Burberry said sales had not fallen as much as analysts expected, "which is a sign that the company's new strategic direction could be working", said XTB's Brooks. Its shares rose nearly six percent.
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