Traders Edge – Tuesday 4th September

Please be advised that the US markets were closed for the Labor Day public holiday hence US data will be showing the close data from the latest close available prior to the public holiday.

LONDON – Global stock markets fell for a third straight day on Monday, hurt by worries over the escalation of trade disputes between world powers and a deepening sell-off across emerging market currencies. With U.S. markets closed for Labor Day, trading activity was generally subdued.

European shares were largely flat, although London’s blue-chip FTSE rallied almost 1 percent thanks to a weak British pound. In Asia, MSCI’s broadest index of shares outside Japan and Tokyo’s blue-chip Nikkei shed about 0.7 percent each. MSCI’s All-Country World Index, a gauge of 47 markets, dipped 0.2 percent and the main emerging equity index fell 0.7 percent, bearing the brunt of global trade fears.

U.S. President Donald Trump said at the weekend there was no need to keep Canada in the North American Free Trade Agreement and warned Congress not to meddle with the trade talks. Worries about U.S. tensions with China were also kept alive by a report last week that Trump had told aides he was ready to impose tariffs on an additional $200 billion worth of imports from China as soon as a public comment period on the plan ends on Thursday.

That would be a major escalation given the United States has already applied tariffs on $50 billion of exports from China. “As we head into a new week and month, trade concerns will remain front and center of investors’ minds, along with increasing concerns about stability in emerging markets, after the sharp declines seen in Argentina and Turkey’s currency last week,” said Michael Hewson, chief market analyst at CMC Markets.