By ELAINE KURTENBACH
World shares were mixed on Wednesday after the U.S. and China ended their latest round of trade talks without a deal, and economic indicators suggest the U.S. economy appears to be slowing.
On Tuesday, U.S. stock indexes edged back from their record levels as a busy week for Wall Street picked up momentum. The S&P 500 fell 0.3% and the Dow lost 0.5%. The Nasdaq composite was down 0.4%.
Treasury yields sank as the Federal Reserve began a two-day meeting on interest rates.
Despite pressure from President Donald Trump for lower rates, which would give the economy a boost, the widespread expectation is that the Fed will wait for more data about how Trump’s tariffs are affecting inflation and the economy before making its next move.
Tariffs Hurting Everyone
The latest data showed Europe’s economy barely grew in the April-June quarter as frantic earlier efforts to ship goods ahead of new U.S. tariffs went into reverse and Germany’s economy contracted.
The outlook for coming months is mediocre given the 15% tariff imposed on European goods in the U.S. under a EU-U.S. trade deal announced Sunday. The higher tariff will burden European exports with higher costs to either be passed on to U.S. consumers or swallowed in the form of lower profits.
Germany’s DAX rose 0.2% to 24,274.40, while the CAC 40 in Paris gained 0.6% to 7,907.33. Britain’s FTSE 100 shed 0.3% to 9,114.09.
The future for the S&P 500 gained nearly 0.1% while that for the Dow Jones Industrial Average was barely changed.
Beijing’s top trade official said China and the United States agreed during two days of talks in Stockholm, Sweden, to work on extending an Aug. 12 deadline for imposing higher tariffs on each other. The U.S. side said an extension was discussed, but not decided on.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said President Donald Trump would make that call. If there is no extension, tariffs could “boomerang” back to higher levels, he said.
China’s powerful Politburo met Wednesday and promised help for companies hit by trade shocks, but held back on any specific large government spending commitments.
“It did leave the door open to more support being introduced in future, but the urgency around stimulus appears to have diminished as trade tensions have eased,” Julian Evans-Pritchard of Capital Economics said in a report.
A Friday deadline is looming for many of Trump’s proposed tariffs on other countries. Several highly anticipated economic reports are also on the way, including the latest monthly update on the job market.
“Markets had been floating on a cloud of trade optimism — first Japan, then the EU — but the sugar high is wearing off. Now, with U.S.-China talks dragging on in Stockholm, there’s a growing sense that the momentum is stalling,” Stephen Innes of SPI Asset Management said in a commentary.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index shed 1.4% to 25,176.93, while the Shanghai Composite index gained 0.2% to 3,615.72.
Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 index fell less than 0.1% to 40,654.70. Gains for electronics companies were offset by losses for major exporters like Toyota Motor Corp. and Honda Motor Co.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 climbed 0.6% to 8,756.40 and in South Korea, the Kospi gained 0.7% to 3,254,47.
Taiwan’s Taiex rose 1.1%. In India, the Sensex added 0.2%.
On Tuesday, U.S. stock indexes edged back from their record levels as a busy week for Wall Street picked up momentum. The S&P 500 fell 0.3% and the Dow lost 0.5%. The Nasdaq composite was down 0.4%.
Signs of a Slowing Economy
One report Tuesday said that U.S. employers were advertising fewer job openings at the end of June than a month before, though still more than economists expected. A separate report said confidence rose among U.S. consumers, but a measure of their expectations about the near term remains below the level that typically signals a recession ahead.
In other dealings early Wednesday, U.S. benchmark crude oil shed 57 cents to $68.64 per barrel, while Brent crude, the international standard, gave up 58 cents to $71.10 per barrel.
The dollar fell to 148.20 Japanese yen from 148.48 yen. The euro slipped to $1.1542 from $1.1546.
