European shares edge higher amid earnings flurry, US tariff blitz
The pan-European Stoxx 600 index was up 0.3 per cent by 0715 GMT. It is on track to end the month 1.6 per cent higher as easing trade worries, better-than-expected US and European economic data and largely upbeat earnings reports bolstered sentiment.
Ahead of the August 1 deadline, Trump released fresh levies ranging from updates on copper tariffs, goods from Brazil, South Korea and India as well as an end to exemptions for small-value overseas shipments.
Euro zone banks continued their upward momentum, adding 1 per cent, boosted by Societe Generale raising its annual profit target on Thursday. The French bank was among top gainers on the index, advancing 7 per cent.
Standard Chartered reported a higher-than-expected rise in first-half pretax profit, while Spanish bank BBVA reported a fall in second-quarter net profit.
Energy giant Shell gained 2.9 per cent after the company beat profit expectations for the quarter and kept buybacks steady. Rival BP rose marginally.
Anheuser-Busch InBev shed 10.2 per cent after the beer giant reported a fall in volumes, dragged back by weak sales in China and Brazil.
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The Star
30 minutes ago
- The Star
Shares in Asia rally, dollar lower against yen on Fed rate cut bets
TOKYO: Shares in Asia rose for a second consecutive session and the U.S. dollar held most of its losses on Tuesday as investors increased bets the Federal Reserve will act to prop up the world's largest economy. U.S. shares rallied on Monday on generally positive earnings reports and increasing bets for a September rate cut from the Fed after disappointing jobs data on Friday. Oil remained lower after output increases by OPEC+ and threats by U.S. President Donald Trump to raise tariffs on India over its Russian petroleum purchases. Japan's Nikkei rallied, with data showing a jump in the nation's service sector activity in July. "There are signs of weakness in parts of the U.S. economy, that plays to the view that maybe not in September, but certainly this year that the Fed's still on course to ease potentially twice," said Rodrigo Catril, senior currency strategist at National Australia Bank. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was up 0.6% in early trade. The Nikkei climbed 0.5% after falling by the most in two months on Monday. The dollar dropped 0.1% to 146.96 yen. The euro was unchanged at $1.1572, while the dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of major peers, edged up 0.1% after a two-day slide. Odds for a September rate cut now stand at about 94%, according to CME Fedwatch, from a 63% chance seen on July 28. Market participants see at least two quarter-point cuts by the end of this year. The disappointing nonfarm payrolls data on Friday added to the case for a cut by the Fed, and took on another layer of drama with Trump's decision to fire the head of labor statistics responsible for the figures. News that Trump would get to fill a governorship position at the Fed early also added to worries about politicisation of interest rate policy. Trump again threatened to raise tariffs on goods from India from the 25% level announced last month, over its Russian oil purchases, while New Delhi called his attack "unjustified" and vowed to protect its economic interests. Second-quarter U.S. earnings season is winding down, but investors are still looking forward to reports this week from companies including Walt Disney and Caterpillar. Tech heavyweights Nvidia, Alphabet and Meta surged overnight, and Palantir Technologies raised its revenue forecast for the second time this year on expectations of sustained demand for its artificial intelligence services. "Company earnings announcements continue to spur market moves," Moomoo Australia market strategist Michael McCarthy said in a note. In Japan, the S&P Global final services purchasing managers' index climbed to 53.6 in July from 51.7 in June, marking the strongest expansion since February. Oil prices were little changed after three days of declines on mounting oversupply concerns, with the potential for more Russian supply disruptions providing support. Brent crude futures were flat at $68.76 per barrel, while U.S. crude futures dipped 0.02% to $66.28 a barrel. Spot gold was slightly higher at $3,381.4 per ounce. The pan-region Euro Stoxx 50 futures were up 0.2%, while German DAX futures were up 0.3% and FTSE futures rose 0.4%. U.S. stock futures, the S&P 500 e-minis , were up 0.2%. Bitcoin was little changed at $114,866.06 after a two-day rally. - Reuters
Focus Malaysia
an hour ago
- Focus Malaysia
Zaid wants PMX, Tengku Zafrul to step down for bowing to US in lopsided tariff negotiation
PRIME Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and Investment, Trade and Industry Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Abdul should resign for their complete surrender to US president Donald Trump who is a renowned tough negotiator. This is because if Malaysia had not agreed to buy US$240 bil worth of American goods, the tariff on Malaysian exports might probably stay at 25%. 'But instead of negotiating from a position of strength, they capitulated – and settled for a 6% reduction which brought the tariff down to 19%,' berated former de facto law minister Datuk Zaid Ibrahim in a social media post. Both PMX and Tengku Zafrul should resign for their complete surrender to Trump. If we had not agreed to buy US $240 billion worth of American goods, the tariff on our exports might have been 25%. But instead of negotiating from a position of strength, they capitulated—and… — Zaid Ibrahim (@zaidibrahim) August 4, 2025 'What did we get in return? A saving of US$2.6 bil/year (RM10.4 bil/year) over the next four years based on Malaysia's current export value of US$43 bil/year. 'In contrast, we committed to buying US$240 bil (RM1.02 tril) in American goods, effectively trading RM24 to save RM1. How is that sound economic policy?' For context, Tengku Zafrul told the Dewan Rakyat yesterday (Aug 4) that Malaysia has agreed to buy and invest o ver US$240 bil with the US to reduce or bridge the trade gap between both countries, eventually securing the 19% tariff rate. The key deals include: US$150 bil in purchases by multinationals in Malaysia's semiconductor, aerospace and data centre sectors over five years; US$70 bil in Malaysian investments in the US over 10 years; US$19 bil Boeing aircraft order by Malaysia Aviation Group (MAG) for fleet renewal; US$3.4 bil/year in LNG (liquefied natural gas) purchases by PETRONAS; US$42.6 mill/year in coal purchases by Tenaga Nasional Bhd; and US$119 mil in telecom product purchases by Telekom Malaysia Bhd. Can the Opposition fare better? Zaid further questioned why had the Madani government bowed down so easily to Washington's demand given that 'Trump has less than four years left in office'. 'His protectionist lunacy, like all things Trump, is likely to end in chaos – either at the ballot box or in the courts,' argued the opposition-slant UMNO member. Datuk Zaid Ibrahim 'Why then are we so gullible? Why did our leaders panic at the first sign of pressure from a volatile foreign president?' Added Zaid who once served momentarily as the defence counsel of now incarcerated former premier Datuk Seri Najib Razak: 'This is not diplomacy. This is economic appeasement which comes at the expense of Malaysia's sovereignty and long-term interests. 'If this is what the 'Madani economics' look like, we are in deeper trouble than we thought.' While sone commenters concurred that both PMX and Tengku Zafrul 'could have 'screwed up the negotiations', realistically, it would be impossible 'to negotiate from a 'position of strength' when you have no strength'. Interestingly, few commenters wondered if ever the table is turned with Zaid himself in PMX's or Tengku Zafrul's shoes, would the politician with turncoat tendency have fared better? – Aug 5, 2025
New Straits Times
an hour ago
- New Straits Times
Tesla's brand loyalty collapsed after Musk backed Trump
TESLA for years had more repeat US customers than any other major automotive brand but its loyalty has plunged since CEO Elon Musk endorsed President Donald Trump last summer, according to data from research firm S&P Global Mobility. The data, which has not been previously reported, shows Tesla's customer loyalty peaked in June 2024, when 73 per cent of Tesla-owning households in the market for a new car bought another Tesla, according to an S&P analysis of vehicle-registration data in all 50 states. That industry-leading brand loyalty rate started to nosedive in July, that data showed, when Musk endorsed Trump following an assassination attempt in Pennsylvania on the Republican nominee. The rate bottomed out at 49.9 per cent last March, just below the industry average, after Musk launched Trump's budget-slashing Department of Government Efficiency in January and started firing thousands of government workers. S&P analyst Tom Libby called it "unprecedented" to see the runaway leader in customer loyalty fall so quickly to industry-average levels. "I've never seen this rapid of a decline in such a short period of time," he said. The timing of Tesla's plunging brand loyalty suggests the CEO's involvement in politics turned off customers in the EV pioneer's eco-conscious customer base, some analysts said. "If they have Democratic leanings, then perhaps they consider other brands in addition to Tesla," said Seth Goldstein, an analyst at Morningstar. Tesla's ageing model lineup also faces stiffer competition from an array of EVs from legacy automakers including General Motors, Hyundai and BMW. The only new model Tesla has released since 2020, its triangular Cybertruck, has proved a flop despite Musk's prediction of hundreds of thousands of annual sales. On an April earnings call, Tesla CFO Vaibhav Taneja singled out "the negative impact of vandalism and unwarranted hostility towards our brand and people," but also said there were "several weeks of lost production" when the company retooled factories to produce a refreshed version of its top-selling Model Y. Musk on the April call said that "absent macro issues, we don't see any reduction in demand." Tesla vehicle sales overall are falling globally and have declined eight per cent in the United States the first five months of 2025, according to S&P. Sales fell 33 per cent over the first six months of the year in Europe, where public backlash to Musk's politicking has been particularly fierce. Musk's increased political activism was "very bad timing" for Tesla, said Garrett Nelson, an analyst who tracks the EV maker at CFRA Research, because it came exactly as the company faced heightened competition from Chinese EV makers and other traditional automakers. He said his top concerns for Tesla are its loss of market share and "what can be done to repair the brand damage." Tesla remains the US electric-vehicle sales leader but has seen its dominance erode as Musk last year delved into politics and focused Tesla more on developing self-driving technology than on new affordable models for human drivers. Customer loyalty is a closely watched auto-industry metric because it is "much more expensive" to take new customers from competitors than to retain existing ones, said S&P's Libby. S&P offers some of the most detailed industry data on automotive purchases because it analyses vehicle registration data from all 50 states on a household-by-household basis. Unlike survey data, it follows actual vehicle transactions to track how consumers migrate among brands and models. From the fourth quarter of 2021 through the third quarter of last year, more than 60 per cent of Tesla-owning households bought another one for their next car purchase, the data show. Only one other brand – Ford – posted a quarterly loyalty rate exceeding 60 per cent during the period, and only once. Tesla's average inflow of customers started to decline in July 2024 along with its loyalty rate. Since February, Tesla has been gaining fewer than two households for every one it loses to the rest of the industry, its lowest level ever, according to the data. "The data shows clearly that the net migration to Tesla is slowing," Libby said. Brands that now attract more Tesla customers than they lose to Tesla include Rivian, Polestar, Porsche and Cadillac, the data show.
