U.S. Stock Futures Drop as Trump Dents Trade Hopes: Markets Wrap

In Business/Economy
2019-12-03 12:27:45Z
By Bloomberg

(Bloomberg) -- U.S. equity futures retreated and stocks in Europe erased a gain as President Donald Trump said he might wait up to a year to complete a trade accord with China. Safe-haven assets climbed.

Contracts on all three main U.S. equity gauges swung to a loss as Trump told reporters in London he might delay an agreement between the world's biggest economies until after the 2020 elections. Gold rallied while Treasuries, the yen and Swiss franc all advanced.

Equity benchmarks slipped across most of Asia on earlier tariff developments, including comments from the French government that the European Union would retaliate if the U.S. follows through on proposed levies against France.

Investors are sifting through conflicting signals on whether America and China are moving closer to the first part of a deal. Trump's comments cast doubt on the prospects for an imminent breakthrough, and follow a Chinese report that its government is preparing a blacklist of U.S. companies for possible retaliation. Meanwhile, global economic data is coming in mixed, reflecting the toll the trade war is having on growth.

"The markets were spooked because they didn't expect Trump to be that severe on China," said Aneeka Gupta, associate director of research at WisdomTree in London. "It's worrying for Europe too, because it was waiting for a decision on the auto tariffs from the U.S. Investors weren't expecting Trump to be launching trade wars on all fronts."

Elsewhere, oil fluctuated as traders gauge the probability of OPEC and allied producers tightening supplies when they meet later this week. Australia's dollar rose after upbeat comments on the global economy by its central bank, while its government bonds dropped.

Here are some key events coming up this week:

Germany releases factory-order data for October on Thursday.Saudi Aramco's initial public offering is scheduled to be priced on Thursday, with Riyadh looking to raise more than $25 billion.Friday brings the U.S. jobs report, where estimates are for non-farm payrolls to rise by 190,000 in November.

Here are the main moves in markets:

Stocks

Futures on the S&P 500 Index dipped 0.3% as of 7:25 a.m. New York time.The Stoxx Europe 600 Index was little changed.The U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index decreased 1.2%.The MSCI Asia Pacific Index declined 0.4%.

Currencies

The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changed.The euro was little changed at $1.1074.The British pound advanced 0.4% to $1.2989.The Japanese yen gained 0.1% to 108.84 per dollar.

Bonds

The yield on 10-year Treasuries declined three basis points to 1.79%.Germany's 10-year yield fell two basis points to -0.30%.Britain's 10-year yield decreased less than one basis point to 0.738%.

Commodities

West Texas Intermediate crude dipped 0.3% to $55.78 a barrel.Gold increased 0.5% to $1,469.22 an ounce.

--With assistance from Joanna Ossinger and Andreea Papuc.

To contact the reporters on this story: Todd White in Madrid at twhite2@bloomberg.net;Sam Potter in London at spotter33@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Sam Potter at spotter33@bloomberg.net, Yakob Peterseil

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