Stocks fall over trade row; oil rises on geopolitical risks

LONDON: Oil prices surged Monday over renewed concerns about Russia’s war in Ukraine and relief over OPEC+ production, while stock markets mostly slumped as US-China trade tensions resurfaced.

The dollar was under pressure while Wall Street opened mixed, with the Dow and the broad-based S&P 500 in the red while the tech-heavy Nasdaq rose. European stock markets were down in afternoon deals.US President Donald Trump reignited tensions with China last week when he accused the world’s second-biggest economy of violating a deal that had led both countries to temporarily reduce huge tit-for-tat tariffs.

Beijing rejected the “bogus” US accusations on Monday and accused Washington of introducing “a number of discriminatory restrictive measures” against China since they agreed on a truce last month.

Trump also ramped up tensions with other trade partners, including the European Union, by vowing to double global tariffs on steel and aluminium to 50 per cent from Wednesday.

“Trump’s pledge to double steel and aluminium import tariffs have caused fresh uncertainty, especially with the European Union vowing to retaliate against the measures,” said Susannah Streeter, head of money and markets at Hargreaves Lansdown.

“Negotiations between the US and China also appear to be in disarray.”The European Union on Saturday said it “strongly regrets” the tariffs move by Trump, warning it “undermines ongoing efforts to reach a negotiated solution” with the US.The EU added it stood “ready” to retaliate.

The two sides are set for talks on the sidelines of an OECD ministerial meeting in Paris on Wednesday.A US trade court ruling against the tariffs last week briefly buoyed the markets, but the decision was frozen pending an appeal and the Trump administration insisted that the levies would not go away.

“Overall, it feels as if investors are wary of adding to their exposure until they get more clarity on trade and tariffs,” said David Morrison, senior market analyst at financial services firm Trade Nation.

The Hong Kong and Tokyo stock markets both ended with sizeable losses Monday. Shanghai was shut for a Chinese public holiday.Oil prices surged, with the main US contract, WTI, briefing jumping by 5.0 per cent.

The surge came after producers’ grouping OPEC+ agreed on a smaller-than-expected increase in crude production.“Traders had feared that OPEC+ would announce a significantly larger increase in production,” Morrison said.

“Prices were also lifted by the increased military activity between Ukraine and Russia reported over the weekend. In addition, there were reports that the US may impose stricter sanctions on Moscow, and this helped boost prices.”

Ukraine said on Sunday that it hit dozens of strategic Russian bombers parked at airbases thousands of kilometres behind the front line.Traders were also monitoring tensions over Iran’s nuclear programme after Tehran said it would not accept an agreement that deprives it of what it calls “peaceful activities”.