London (AFP) – European stock markets struggled Thursday after US President Donald Trump’s latest tariffs salvo, this time against the European Union, while earnings from chip titan Nvidia failed to impress investors despite another record performance. Only London stocks managed to stay out of the red after Trump warned Wednesday that he would hit the European Union with 25 percent tariffs.
“As concerns swirl about the latest tariff threats emanating from the White House, caution remains the name of the game amid a murky outlook for the global economy,” said Susannah Streeter, head of money and markets at Hargreaves Lansdown. The threat against Europe came after Trump went back on the offensive over trade, signing a memo last weekend calling for curbs on Chinese investments in industries including technology and critical infrastructure, healthcare, and energy. Meanwhile, Trump said Thursday that he would impose an additional 10 percent tariff on Chinese imports while moving ahead with levies on Canada and Mexico next week. That dented gains on Wall Street, which was mixed in late morning trading.
“US stocks suffered a fresh wobble today thanks to yet more tariff news,” said Chris Beauchamp, chief market analyst at online trading platform IG. The tech-heavy Nasdaq was lower as profit-taking pulled Nvidia’s shares down by more than three percent. The generative AI chipmaker posted record revenues after the close of trading on Wednesday, and its guidance for this quarter beat expectations. The firm is seen as a bellwether for the artificial intelligence revolution, and while there had been worries that the emergence of a low-cost generative AI chatbot from Chinese firm DeepSeek could darken the outlook for the sector, Nvidia reported strong demand for its latest chip. “DeepSeek’s arrival signifies that China is a force to be reckoned with when it comes to AI capabilities, and this is also knocking sentiment for US tech stocks; it could also limit the upside for Nvidia’s stock price after this solid earnings report,” said XTB Research Director Kathleen Brooks.
US tech stocks helped push Wall Street to record highs at the end of last year, but have struggled so far in 2025. In Asian trading, Hong Kong went above 24,000 points for the first time since 2022, thanks to another outstanding performance by Chinese tech giants. But traders soon took their cash off the table, and the market ended in the red, scenes mirrored elsewhere in Asia. Thursday saw some big share-price movements among major companies. While the Tokyo exchange closed higher, 7-Eleven owner Seven & I tumbled 11 percent after the convenience store giant said its founding family had failed to put together a white-knight buyout. The firm rejected an offer last year worth nearly $40 billion from Canadian rival Alimentation Couche-Tard, which would have been the biggest foreign buyout of a Japanese firm.
In London, engine maker Rolls-Royce surged 16 percent while advertising giant WPP slumped 15.8 percent as traders reacted to earnings updates from the pair.
– Key figures around 1630 GMT –
New York – Dow: UP 0.7 percent at 43,751.43 points
New York – S&P 500: FLAT at 5,955.52
New York – Nasdaq Composite: DOWN 0.6 percent at 18,964.03
London – FTSE 100: UP 0.3 at 8,756.21 (close)
Paris – CAC 40: DOWN 0.5 percent at 8,102.52 (close)
Frankfurt – DAX: DOWN 1.1 percent at 22,550.89 (close)
Tokyo – Nikkei 225: UP 0.3 percent at 38,256.17 (close)
Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: DOWN 0.3 percent at 23,718.29 (close)
Shanghai – Composite: UP 0.2 percent at 3,388.06 (close)
Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.0406 from $1.0480 on Wednesday
Pound/dollar: DOWN at $1.2622 from $1.2672
Dollar/yen: UP at 149.97 from 149.13 yen
Euro/pound: DOWN at 82.47 pence from 82.70 pence
Brent North Sea Crude: UP 1.8 percent at $73.38 per barrel
West Texas Intermediate: UP 2.1 percent at $70.11 per barrel
© 2024 AFP
