European stock markets fall further

LONDON: European stock markets retreated Friday, extending the previous session’s big losses, while Asian indices dropped also on uncertainty over US President Donald Trump’s much-vaunted tax cutting plans.

Stock markets are dropping “on more worry about the US Senate delaying a proposed US corporate tax cut”, said Accendo Markets analyst Michael van Dulken.

“Coupled with some more disappointing earnings reports, this served to undo a little more of equities’ recent ascent to record highs.”

Around 1050 GMT, London’s benchmark FTSE 100 index was down 0.3 percent compared with the close on Thursday.

In the eurozone, Frankfurt’s DAX 30 lost 0.1 percent and the Paris CAC 40 shed 0.3 percent, though the falls were less sharp than Thursday’s drops of up to 1.5 percent for the bloc’s main indices.

On Friday, the euro was higher at $1.1655.

Meanwhile in Britain, “a fall in the trade deficit and improvement in manufacturing and industrial production has helped to lift the pound back towards $1.32”, noted Chris Beauchamp, chief market analyst at IG trading group.

Over in Frankfurt, shares in Allianz jumped 1.0 percent to 202.4 euros after the German insurer said it remained on track to hit its full-year targets despite plunging profits for the third quarter on natural disasters, notably hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria.

Global stock markets were sent surging last month when Trump’s administration unveiled a plan to slash taxes across the board in a bid to fire up the US economy.

But in recent days it has emerged Republicans have differing ideas about how to push them through, with senators calling for a one-year delay to corporate tax cuts.

House Speaker Paul Ryan has insisted that the details will be “ironed out” between the two competing plans but analysts said there are worries the overhaul could succumb to party infighting in the same way Trump’s healthcare reforms were killed.

“Given the apparent differences between the two bills, the implementation of tax reform before the end of the year looks pretty challenging and achieving it before Thanksgiving (November 23) seems close to impossible,” Rodrigo Catril, a foreign exchange strategist at National Australia Bank, said in a note to clients.

In commodities trading, oil prices edged up on growing tensions in the crude-rich Middle East, after Saudi Arabia accused Iran of “direct military aggression” over a missile attack near Riyadh by Tehran-backed Yemeni rebels.

– Key figures around 1050 GMT –

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London – FTSE 100: DOWN 0.3 percent at 7,464.57 points

Frankfurt – DAX 30: DOWN 0.1 percent at 13,171.3

Paris – CAC 40: DOWN 0.3 percent at 5,391.79

EURO STOXX 50: DOWN 0.2 percent at 3,605.21

Tokyo – Nikkei 225: DOWN 0.8 percent at 22,681.42 (close)

Hong Kong – Hang Seng: DOWN 0.1 percent at 29,120.92 (close)

Shanghai – Composite: UP 0.1 percent at 3,432.67 (close)

New York – DOW: DOWN 0.4 percent at 23,461.94 (close)

Euro/dollar: UP at $1.1655 from $1.1642 at 2200 GMT

Pound/dollar: UP at $1.3156 from $1.3145