Shares stumble after Trump's latest trade threat
HONG KONG: Investors were rattled on Thursday (Jun 12) after Donald Trump said he would impose unilateral tariffs on partners in the next two weeks, reigniting trade war fears soon after reaching a deal with China to dial down tensions between the superpowers.
The mood was also shaded by geopolitical concerns after the US president said personnel were being moved from the Middle East as nuclear talks with Iran faltered and fears of a regional conflict grew.
The equity losses snapped a recent rally fuelled by talks between Beijing and Washington in London that saw them hammer out a framework agreement to move towards a pact to reduce levies.
Investors have been on edge since Trump's "Liberation Day" tariff blitz on Apr 2 that sent shockwaves through stock and bond markets and stoked global recession fears.
Days later, he announced a pause in those measures until Jul 9 to allow for countries to cut deals with the White House, sparking relief rallies that have pushed some markets towards all-time highs.
However, he once again shook confidence by saying on Wednesday that he intended to send letters telling governments what levies Washington would be imposing.
"We're going to be sending letters out in about a week and a half, two weeks, to countries, telling them what the deal is," he told reporters.
"At a certain point, we're just going to send letters out. And I think you understand that, saying this is the deal, you can take it or leave it."
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Business Times
2 hours ago
- Business Times
Trump urges Iran to make deal after Israel blasts nuclear and military targets
[JERUSALEM/DUBAI/WASHINGTON] Israel launched large-scale strikes against Iran on Friday (Jun 13), saying it had attacked nuclear facilities and missile factories and killed a swathe of military commanders in what could be a prolonged operation to prevent Tehran building an atomic weapon. US President Donald Trump suggested that Iran had brought the attack on itself by resisting US demands in talks to restrict its nuclear programme, and urged it to make a deal, 'with the next already planned attacks being even more brutal'. Washington said it had no part in the operation, however. Iran promised a harsh response to a barrage that killed the heads of both its armed forces and the powerful Revolutionary Guards, and Israel said it was trying to intercept about 100 drones launched towards Israeli territory in retaliation. But around 0800 GMT, Israeli media said an order to citizens to remain near protected areas had been lifted, suggesting that most or all of the drones had been neutralised. The price of crude leapt around 9 per cent on fears of wider retaliatory attacks across a major oil-producing region. 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 An Israeli security source said Mossad commandos had been operating deep inside the Islamic Republic before the attack and the Israeli spy agency and military had mounted a series of covert operations against Iran's strategic missile array. Israel also established an attack-drone base near Tehran, the source added. The military said it had carried out a large-scale strike against Iran's air defences, destroying 'dozens of radars and surface-to-air missile launchers'. Iranian media and witnesses reported explosions, including some at the main uranium enrichment facility at Natanz. Iran's Atomic Energy Organisation said Natanz had sustained damage but no casualties had been reported. Iran said several top commanders and six nuclear scientists had been killed, including the armed forces chief of staff, Major General Mohammad Bagheri, and Revolutionary Guards chief Hossein Salami. Two sources in the region said at least 20 senior commanders were dead, including the head of the Revolutionary Guards aerospace force. An Israeli military official said the strikes had achieved a great deal but assessments were continuing and Israel was prepared to keep the operation going for days. Among the targets were ballistic missiles pointed towards Israel, they added. 'We are at a decisive moment in Israel's history,' Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a recorded video message. Just before six am Washington time, Trump posted on his Truth Social platform. 'I gave Iran chance after chance to make a deal,' he said. 'There has already been great death and destruction, but there is still time to make this slaughter, with the next already planned attacks being even more brutal, come to an end. Iran must make a deal, before there is nothing left...' Israel's enemies in Lebanon and Gaza weakened At one time, Israel might have expected a wave of retaliation from Iranian-backed militias around the region. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said in a statement that Israel had 'unleashed its wicked and bloody' hand in a crime against Iran and that it would receive 'a bitter fate for itself'. But since the war in Gaza erupted in October 2023, Israel has severely weakened Iran's allies, notably by assassinating the top leaders of the Palestinian militant group Hamas and Lebanon's Hezbollah and attacking the Houthis who control much of Yemen. Some 200 Israeli fighter jets took part in the strikes, hitting more than 100 targets in Iran, military spokesman Brigadier General Effie Defrin said. Iran's Fars news agency reported a strike near the northwestern city of Tabriz. The International Atomic Energy Agency said there was no increase in radiation levels at the Natanz nuclear site, citing information provided by Iranian authorities. Airlines quit the airspace over Israel, Iran, Iraq and Jordan after the Israeli strikes, Flightradar24 data showed, with carriers diverting or cancelling flights. Israeli airlines El Al, Israir and Arkia said they were moving their planes out of Israel and Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion Airport was shut. Dubai-based Emirates cancelled flights to and from Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon and Iran as Iran closed its airspace. The global crude oil benchmark Brent blend was up almost 9 per cent at US$75.37 at 1000 GMT. The National Iranian Oil Refining and Distribution Company said oil refining and storage facilities had not been damaged and continued to operate. Israeli military Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir said tens of thousands of soldiers had been called up and 'prepared across all borders'. Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi joined global calls for de-escalation and accused Israel of violating international law. 'At an extremely critical time when the US was negotiating a nuclear deal with Iran that would save the whole region and the world, a new vicious escalation,' he said on X. US officials have repeatedly said any new deal – to replace a 2015 accord between Tehran and six world powers from which Trump withdrew – must include a commitment to scrap uranium enrichment, a prerequisite for developing nuclear bombs. Nuclear talks with Iran due on Sunday The Islamic Republic insists it wants nuclear energy only for civilian purposes. But the IAEA's Board of governors on Thursday declared Iran in breach of its non-proliferation obligations for the first time in almost 20 years. Iran is a signatory to the global nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. Israel is not, and is believed to have the Middle East's sole nuclear arsenal. Iran said in a statement that Israel's 'cowardly' attack showed why Iran had to insist on enrichment, nuclear technology and missile power. Iranian citizens reacted to the strikes with anger and fear. Some opponents of the ruling clerics expressed hope that Israel's attack might lead to their downfall, though one Tehran resident who was not a supporter of clerical rule said Iran must retaliate. 'We can't afford not to respond. Either we surrender and they take our missiles, or we fire them. There's no other option – and if we don't, we'll end up surrendering them anyway.' The Israeli military said it had been forced to act by new intelligence information showing that Iran was 'approaching the point of no return' in the development of a nuclear weapon. But a source familiar with US intelligence reports said there had been no recent change in the US assessment that Iran was not building a nuclear weapon and that Khamenei had not authorised a resumption of the nuclear weapons programme that was shut in 2003. Trump was convening the National Security Council on Friday morning, the White House said. He had said on Thursday that an Israeli strike on Iran 'could very well happen' but reiterated his hopes for a peaceful resolution. Iran's armed forces spokesperson accused Washington of providing support for the operation. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the US had not been involved in the strikes and Israel had acted unilaterally in self-defence. US and Iranian officials are scheduled to hold a sixth round of talks on Tehran's escalating uranium enrichment programme in Oman on Sunday. REUTERS
Business Times
2 hours ago
- Business Times
Chinese firms may join group seeking to buy Li Ka-shing's ports: sources
[HONG KONG] China's largest shipping company is among the firms in talks to invest in a multinational consortium seeking to buy billionaire Li Ka-shing's global ports, according to people familiar with the matter, in an effort to ease Beijing's concerns over the controversial deal. China Cosco Shipping is one of several Chinese state-backed companies in discussions with the consortium led by Italian billionaire Gianluigi Aponte's Terminal Investment on matters including how they might participate in the port deal, the people said, asking not to be identified discussing private information. The buying group also includes US firm BlackRock and its Global Infrastructure Partners unit. The inclusion of Chinese investors in the consortium emerged as one of the options to advance the ports sale after high-stakes talks in Switzerland last month between Chinese and US officials, some of the people said. Beijing has fiercely opposed the sale – including two ports along the Panama Canal – over concerns it could affect its global shipping and trade ambitions. Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump celebrated the deal as returning the strategic waterway to American influence. Once completed, the agreement to sell the two Panama ports and 41 others around the world is expected to net tycoon Li's CK Hutchison Holdings more than US$19 billion in cash. Talks are ongoing and the details are not yet finalised, the people said. Cosco, CK Hutchison and the Aponte family's MSC Mediterranean Shipping, which controls Terminal Investment, did not respond to requests for comment. BlackRock declined to comment. The talks are the latest twist in one of billionaire Li's most geopolitically challenging deals amid escalating tensions between the world's two largest economies over global trade. The development has raised hopes that it could ease China's concerns over the proposed transaction, which has been blasted by pro-Beijing newspapers as a betrayal of the nation and kowtowing to US pressure. The country's market watchdog has vowed to review the sale, and Bloomberg News reported in March that authorities told state-owned firms to hold off on any new collaboration with businesses linked to Li and his family. Despite the progress of the talks, a deal could still falter. A 145-day period for exclusive talks between CK Hutchison and the consortium ends in late July, and the parties have already missed an initial goal of signing an agreement on the Panama part of the deal by early April. The current structure of the buyer consortium will give Terminal Investment ownership of all the ports except the two in Panama, whose control will go to BlackRock, Bloomberg reported in April. Terminal Investment parent MSC has 28 offices across Greater China. It runs a terminal in China's eastern city Ningbo and operates dozens of shipping services between the country and the rest of the world. In an interview with the Financial Times earlier this week, the head of the Panama Canal Authority said the consortium's structure means a concentrated terminal ownership which could threaten the waterway's competitiveness and neutrality. In response, China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it supports Panama in defending its independence and reiterated its opposition to economic bullying. BLOOMBERG
Straits Times
2 hours ago
- Straits Times
Trump urges Iran to make a deal, warning next attacks will be ‘more brutal'
A building that was hit by Israeli air strikes north of Tehran, Iran, on June 13. PHOTO: EPA-EFE Trump urges Iran to make a deal, warning next attacks will be 'more brutal' Follow our live coverage here. US President Donald Trump on June 13 urged Iran to make a deal over its nuclear programme, saying that there was still time for the country to prevent further conflict with Israel. 'There has already been great death and destruction, but there is still time to make this slaughter, with the next already planned attacks being even more brutal, come to an end,' Mr Trump said in a post on Truth Social. Israel launched strikes against Iran on June 13, saying it had targeted nuclear facilities, ballistic missile factories and military commanders during the start of an operation to prevent Tehran from building a nuclear weapon. REUTERS More to come Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
