LONDON: World oil prices recovered slightly on Wednesday after a plunge, while stock markets and the dollar diverged as traders tracked economic headwinds.
While some market tensions have eased since US President Donald Trump and Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping at the weekend agreed to resume talks aimed at tackling their trade war, concerns about weak global growth have returned to the fore.
Despite another record-high finish for the S&P 500 on Tuesday on Wall Street, “there’s growing concern that the upside for stocks is looking limited”, noted James Hughes, chief market analyst at Axitrader.
“Concerns continue to propagate that global growth is incredibly fragile.” However, China appeared to temper expectations for near-term stimulus measures for the world’s number-two economy.
It comes after data showed factory activity in China continued to shrink in June, adding to worries about the key driver of global growth.
The release of US jobs data on Friday is in investors’ sights, with any weak reading likely to put pressure on the Federal Reserve to announce a deeper-than-expected cut in interest rates. — AFP
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