Weekly News Summary for August 2-8, 2019

Friday,  August 2: Global Stocks Down on Trump’s New Tariff Plans

Global stock markets edged lower on Friday, with the European market registering its largest fall of 2019 after US President Donald Trump stated plans to levy 10% tariff on $300 billion of Chinese imports from September 1.

The news sent the pan-European Stoxx down 2% to record its sharpest daily drop for the year, while MSCI’s index of world equities declined by 0.6%, as Asian shares posted huge losses, with the Nikkei losing 2.1%, the Hang Seng slipping by 2.4%, and China’s mainland stocks plummeting about 1.5%.

Monday, August 5: Safe-haven Assets Rise amid Renewed Trade Tensions

Demand for safe-haven assets rose on Monday, as investors steered clear of riskier assets amid renewed US-China trade tensions.

Spot gold climbed more than 1% to reach its highest since May 2013, while the Japanese yen and the Swiss franc strengthened against the greenback, whereas Bitcoin added around $1,000, surpassing $11,000 for the first time in two weeks.

Tuesday, August 6: US Deems China as a Currency Manipulator

The US government has deemed China as a currency manipulator after the country’s central bank allowed its yuan to drop below the 7-per-dollar level in response to US President Donald Trump’s new tariff warning.

The Chinese currency registered more losses on Tuesday, but was later supported by the People’s Bank of China’s decision to establish a firmer-than-anticipated yuan fixing, and as it announced the issuance of 30 billion yuan bills, which helped limit the local supply of the yuan.

Wednesday, August 7: Walt Disney Falls as Profit Misses Expectations

Walt Disney’s stock price plummeted in after-hours trading on Wednesday, as the company’s quarterly earnings dropped more than expected, citing major investment in its streaming media as the reason for the profit decline.

Shares of Disney, which has advanced by 27% this year, fell as much as 5% to $135, after hitting an all-time high last week.

Thursday, August 8: China Exports Recover, Imports Extended Declines

China’s export surprisingly recovered in July, due to better global demand, but the improvement might only be temporary, as the US threatens to impose more tariffs on Chinese products.

Customs data showed on Thursday that exports of the world’s second-largest economy were up by 3.3% from 2018, the fastest growth since March, while imports extended weakness by 5.6%, although the figure was less than the 7.3% decline in June.