Kuwait Wall Street Diary Falls with New Trade Fears

The three indices ended the week with losses, with the Nasdaq falling 3.92%, the Standard & Poor's 3.1% and the Dow Jones 2.60%.

The Wall Street stock market plunged yesterday amidst new business concerns, ending a week in which the Standard & Poor's 500 and Nasdaq were the biggest weekly loss since December, when investors panicked of a possible recession.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average <.DJI> fell by 98.41 points, or 0.37%, to 26.45.01, while the Standard & Poor's 500 index <.SPX> was down 21.51 points, or 0.73%, to end informally at 2,932.05.

The Nasdaq composite index closed down 107.05 points, or 1.32%, to 8004.07 points.

The three indices ended the week with losses, with the Nasdaq falling 3.92%, the Standard & Poor's 3.1% and the Dow Jones 2.60%.

European shares

European equities suffered their biggest losses for more than seven months on Friday, driven by automakers, mining companies and chip makers, after Washington announced new tariffs on Chinese products, saying fear that global growth will be further damaged.

The European Stoxx 600 index ended the trading session down 2.5%, to its lowest level in six weeks. Germany's DAX, the most trade-sensitive index, fell 3.1%, while losses in luxury goods companies, which derive a significant portion of their revenue from China, drove the CAC 40 French down 3.6%.

Trump ended a temporary trade truce between the two countries on Sunday by announcing a 10% tariff on Chinese exports to the US worth $ 300 billion as of September 1, pushing Beijing to warn that she would take countermeasures.

Investor anxiety grew after Bloomberg announced that Trump would make a statement on trade with the EU.

The technology sector index, which includes the shares of high-chip chip manufacturers, fell to 3.7%.

The shares of Celtic, Infineon, ST Micro and EMSL fell between 4.8 and 6.3%.

The core index is among the worst among European sectors, closing down 4.6%.

Expectations of lower lending costs on European bonds led to further declines and exerted pressure on bank stocks. The sector has also been affected by a range of weak economic results.

The Royal Bank of Scotland lost 6.5% after announcing that a deterioration in the economic situation before Britain's breakup with the European Union would likely affect the profits of the company. ;next year. The French Crédit Agricole fell by 4.9%.

Equities in the automotive sector also declined. The Italian luxury car manufacturer Ferrari has failed to raise its forecasts for 2019 despite solid results in the first half. Shares of the company fell 4.4%.

Areas such as utilities, health care and telecommunications, which appear less vulnerable in times of economic turbulence, have experienced limited losses among key indicators.

Cotton

By contrast, cotton prices fell yesterday for the second day in a row at their lowest level in three years due to escalating trade war between the United States, the world's largest fiber exporter, and the China, the biggest consumer.

Beijing has pledged to respond if the US insisted on adding tariffs on more Chinese imports, according to Bloomberg.

The sudden escalation of President Donald Trump's trade war yesterday caused a drop in prices of agricultural commodities.

Prices this week are under pressure from the strength of the dollar compared to the Brazilian riyal, boosting the attractiveness of sugar and coffee in dollars.

Trump's decision yesterday abruptly ended the truce with China since its meeting with Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in Osaka, Japan, at the end of June.

It is likely that the new tariffs on Chinese products will give cotton buyers in the Asian state a reason to avoid the United States.

December delivery cotton futures prices fell 1.8% to 61.26 cents per pound in New York, after hitting 61.25 cents a pound, the lowest contract price since the 24th. May 2016.

Cotton prices have fallen 31% in the last 12 months.