Trump threats and criticism weigh on stock markets



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by Patrick Vignal

PARIS (Reuters) – European stock markets ended Friday in the red in a climate clouded by statements by Donald Trump on customs barriers and his criticism of the monetary tightening implemented by the Federal Reserve .

In Paris, the CAC 40 lost 0.35% to 5,398.32 points. The British Footsie lost 0.07% and the German Dax dropped 0.98%.

The EuroStoxx 50 index dropped 0.33%, the FTSEurofirst 300 0.11% and the Stoxx 600 0.15%.

Over the week as a whole, the CAC 40, which remained on two consecutive weekly increases fell by 0.57%.

European indexes increased their losses after Donald Trump threatened to impose tariffs on $ 500 billion worth of goods imported from China.

The US president, who had already mentioned such an amount, mentioned it again in an interview with CNBC, putting an end to a fragile truce in the trade dispute between the two largest economies in the world.

In Europe, sectors sensitive to trade tensions have suffered, starting with the automobile, whose index has lost 2.08%.

Investors are now waiting for the meeting scheduled for Wednesday in Washington between the President of the European Commission and Donald Trump for discu

Jean-Claude Juncker should try to persuade the US president to give up his threat to tax imports of European cars. But the task could be difficult, especially since Donald Trump did not hide Thursday his dissatisfaction with the announcement of a fine of 4.34 billion euros imposed by the Commission on Google.

THE DOLLAR FALLS , EURO GRIMPE

On the stock market, Volkswagen (-2.26%), BMWG (-1.82%), Daimler (-2.35%), Renault (-1.19%) and PSA ( -2.41%) are among the sharpest declines of the day.

Export-oriented stocks were further penalized by the appreciation of the euro, which returned $ 1.17 (+0, 56%)

The single currency climbed parallel to the decline of the greenback after a tweet by Donald Trump criticizing the monetary tightening policy of the Federal Reserve.

The dollar immediately increased its losses to fall to a trough more than a week against a basket of reference currencies.

Donald Trump's declarations, on the other hand, have little effect on yields on US government bonds and do not change the sentiment of market participants, who still expect a majority of two rate hikes this year, four in total by 2018, according to CME Group's FedWatch barometer.

James Bullard, President of the St. Louis Fed, said he was not surprised by the US president's remarks and expected him to renew his criticism but he did not think they would affect the central bank

At closing time in Europe, the Dow Jones and the S & P 500 turned shyly upward. The Nasdaq rises more frankly thanks to the support of Microsoft, which takes 2.50% after results welcomed.

(Edited by Juliette Rouillon)

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