London — European equities opened lower and sterling came off five-month highs on Wednesday as the EU and Britain resumed talks in Brussels to avert a disorderly Brexit before an EU summit on Thursday and Friday.
The pound was down 0.5% against the dollar with investors trading at volatility levels not seen since the 2016 June Brexit referendum. The pound had strengthened by close to 5% over the past week as investors rushed to reprice the prospect of a last-minute Brexit deal before the October 31 deadline. “Even though we are most optimistic that a deal does happen, we don’t think the most likely outcome is that it happens by October 31, so you would be looking at some form of extension and potentially elections,” said, Andrew Sheets, chief cross-asset strategist at Morgan Stanley. Third-quarter earnings are expected to show an overall decline in earnings, which could also weigh on morale, Sheets said, adding that Morgan Stanley had a below-consensus view on how companies would fare this quarter.
Bloomberg reported, citing sources, that China will struggle to buy $50bn of US farm goods annually unless it removes retaliatory tariffs on American products, which would require reciprocal action by US President Donald Trump. The US-China trade war will cut 2019 global growth to its slowest pace since the 2008/2009 financial crisis, the International Monetary Fund warned on Tuesday.
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Global market stocks rise on cautious Brexit deal hopesSentiment remains fragile due to US-China trade war uncertainties
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