London — World stocks slipped after China posted its weakest growth rate in nearly three decades on Friday, while the dollar was set for its worst week in almost four months having been pummeled by pound and euro Brexit rallies.
“You can’t get away from the fact that China is slowing, but it’s not slowing more than we thought,” said head of global macro-strategy at State Street Global Markets Michael Metcalfe. “We know that quarter four is going to be a soft patch but, to a degree, policy makers are ahead of this, so as long as we don’t have an escalation of the trade war now I think markets can handle it.”
The euro rested at $1.1125, not far from $1.1140, its highest since August 26. The dollar remained weak too having seen this week’s weak retail sales data and more US interest rate cut talk contribute to its biggest weekly slide since June.Helping to alleviate immediate trade-war worries, China had said on Thursday that it hoped to reach a phased agreement in its trade dispute with the US as soon as possible.
Reflecting the cautious mood, the safe-haven yen strengthened, with the dollar falling 0.13% to ¥108.51. The yield on benchmark 10-year US treasury notes edged up, though, to 1.764%, compared with a US close of 1.755% on Thursday.