European shares rise after four-day drop as ABB shines
The pan-European STOXX 600 index (.STOXX), opens new tab up 0.8% as of 0718 GMT.
ABB (ABBN.S), opens new tab jumped 8.2% after the engineering firm posted record quarterly order intake, driven by strong U.S. demand and for products used in data centres to support artificial intelligence.
Shares of rivals Siemens (SIEGn.DE), opens new tab and Schneider Electric (SCHN.PA), opens new tab added 3.6% and 5.8% respectively. The three firms were among the top boosts to the European benchmark index.
European chipmakers also recouped some losses from the previous session as TSMC (2330.TW), opens new tab, the world's main producer of advanced AI chips, posted record profit in the second quarter. ASML (ASML.AS), opens new tab rose 1.7% following 11% drop on Wednesday.
In trade, EU's trade chief Maros Sefcovic headed to Washington on Wednesday for tariff talks, and is expected to meet U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, an EU spokesperson told Reuters.
Meanwhile, investors awaited for clarity on U.S.-EU trade talks as the bloc readied retaliatory measures if negotiations with Washington failed.
On Wednesday U.S. President Donald Trump eased market anxiety after denying reports that said was planning to fire Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell soon.
He confirmed he floated the idea with Republican lawmakers and renewed his criticism of the Fed chief for not cutting interest rates.
Among other stocks, Evolution (EVOG.ST), opens new tab gained 6.5% after the Swedish gaming technology company reported its second-quarter results.
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Reuters
27 minutes ago
- Reuters
Ex-Australian PM Morrison to testify before US House panel on China
WASHINGTON, July 18 (Reuters) - Former Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison will testify at a U.S. House panel hearing on Wednesday about countering China's "economic coercion against democracies," the committee said on Friday. Former U.S. ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel will also testify before the House Select Committee on China. Relations with China, already rocky after Australia banned Huawei from its 5G broadband network in 2018, cooled further after Canberra called for an independent investigation into the origins of COVID-19. China responded by imposing tariffs on Australian commodities, including wine and barley and limited imports of Australian beef, coal and grapes, moves described by the United States as "economic coercion." Morrison was defeated in a bid for reelection in 2022. Reuters reported this week Canberra is close to an agreement with Beijing that would allow Australian suppliers to ship five trial canola cargoes to China, sources familiar with the matter said, a move towards ending a years-long freeze in the trade. China imposed 100% tariffs on Canadian canola meal and oil this year amid strained diplomatic ties. Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese visited China this week, underscoring a warming of ties. Emanuel, who told a Chicago news outlet last month he is considering a run for president in 2028, has been a harsh critic of China, saying last year Beijing constantly uses coercion and pressures other countries, including Japan and the Philippines. "Economic coercion by China is their most persistent and pernicious tool in their toolbox," Emanuel said in a separate speech in 2023. The Chinese Embassy in Washington did not immediately comment.
Reuters
27 minutes ago
- Reuters
Equities little changed; US yields dip as investors look to tariffs, earnings, economic data
NEW YORK/LONDON, July 18 (Reuters) - MSCI's global equity index advanced slightly while U.S. Treasury yields dipped and Wall Street equities were barely changed on Friday as investors waited for corporate earnings and monitored the latest U.S. tariff threats while they digested a mixed economic picture. U.S. consumer sentiment improved in July and inflation expectations declined, but households still saw substantial risk of price pressures increasing, the University of Michigan's Surveys of Consumers released on Friday showed. Another report showed U.S. single-family homebuilding dropped to an 11-month low in June as high mortgage rates and economic uncertainty hindered home purchases, suggesting residential investment contracted again in the second quarter. On Thursday, news of stronger-than-expected U.S. retail sales and a drop in jobless claims suggested modest improvements in economic activity and helped push the S&P 500 and Nasdaq to record closing highs. On Friday, the mood dimmed after the Financial Times reported that U.S. President Donald Trump is pushing for a minimum tariff of 15% to 20% on the European Union. The report said he was unmoved by the latest EU offer to reduce car tariffs and would keep those duties at 25% as planned. "Tariff headlines this afternoon reminded investors that volatility is likely to persist through the start of August." said Lindsey Bell, chief investment strategist at 248 Ventures. "Investors may be taking some money off the table going into the weekend given lingering tariff uncertainty and a market that has a premium valuation after reaching new highs." She noted that these concerns were on display in shares of American Express (AXP.N), opens new tab and Netflix (NFLX.O), opens new tab, which both fell on solid earnings reports and forecasts after reaching high valuations ahead of the results. Netflix ended down 5% while Amex fell 2.3%. Still, many investors had high hopes for upcoming earnings and made bullish bets ahead of July equity option expirations, said Bruce Zaro, managing director at Granite Wealth Management in Plymouth, Massachusetts. "Today's action is all about option expiration as investors make bets on the meat of earnings season, which comes in the next few weeks when all the growth and technology companies report," said Zaro, noting that beyond earnings, investors want to benefit from a strong performance trend in megacap names. "There's a fear of missing out." On Wall Street the Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI), opens new tab fell 142.30 points, or 0.32%, to 44,342.19, the S&P 500 (.SPX), opens new tab fell 0.57 points, or 0.01%, to 6,296.79 and the Nasdaq Composite (.IXIC), opens new tab rose 10.01 points, or 0.05%, to 20,895.66. For the week, the S&P 500 gained 0.59%, the Nasdaq rose 1.51%, and the Dow fell 0.07%. MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe (.MIWD00000PUS), opens new tab rose 1.18 points, or 0.13%, to 927.47, hitting a record high earlier in the day. Earlier, Europe's STOXX 600 (.STOXX), opens new tab index closed down 0.01%, and was off 0.06% for the week. In currencies, the U.S. dollar slipped against the euro but was showing a weekly gain, as investors weighed central bank policy amid signs that tariffs may be starting to fuel inflation pressures and as Trump continued to publicly criticize Fed Chair Jerome Powell. The euro pared some gains after a Financial Times report on a toughening U.S. stance on European import tariffs. The dollar index , which measures the greenback against a basket of currencies including the yen and the euro, fell 0.05% to 98.46. The euro was last up 0.27% at $1.1626. Against the Japanese yen , the dollar strengthened 0.09% to 148.73 as polls showed Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba's coalition was in danger of losing its majority in an election on Sunday. In government bonds, U.S. Treasuries prices rose, dragging their yields lower, after comments from Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller pushed for a rate cut later this month, while technical buying also contributed to the move higher. In contrast, most officials who have spoken publicly have indicated a desire to hold rates steady and traders are betting on a 95.3% probability that rates will stay where they are after the month-end meeting, according to CME Group's FedWatch, opens new tab tool. The yield on benchmark U.S. 10-year notes fell 3.9 basis points to 4.424%, from 4.463% late on Thursday while the 30-year bond yield fell 1.8 basis points to 4.9958% from 5.014%. The 2-year note yield, which typically moves in step with interest rate expectations for the Federal Reserve, fell 4.4 basis points to 3.873%, from 3.917% late on Thursday. In commodities, crude oil futures held steady as mixed U.S. economic news offset worries the European Union's latest for its war in Ukraine could reduce oil supplies. U.S. crude settled down 0.3%, or 20 cents at $67.34 a barrel while Brent ended at $69.28 per barrel, down 0.35% or 24 cents on the day. Gold prices rose on Friday as a weaker U.S. dollar and ongoing geopolitical and economic uncertainty boosted demand for the safe-haven metal, while platinum prices eased after reaching their highest level since 2014. Spot gold rose 0.33% to $3,349.66 an ounce.
The Sun
27 minutes ago
- The Sun
Putin's cyber spooks who hacked Skripal's family in series of attacks are unmasked by British intel chiefs
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