•S&P 500 TECHNICAL ANALYSIS
Taking a closer look at S&P 500 futures, to highlight afterhours trade, reveals that recent declines risk turning into a more pronounced downtrend. This is underpinned by further confirmation achieved after the Bearish Engulfing candlestick. Further declines places near-term support at just above 2824, with sentiment readings hinting of a bearish-contrarian trading bias.
•European stocks opened lower Thursday morning as trade tensions between the U.S. and China ratchet up.
The Pan-European STOXX 600 abruptly fell 0.7% after the opening bell while the CAC 40 dropped more than 1%. All major sectors opened morning trading in decline, with autos leading the losses on a 1.6% drop.
European markets closed slightly higher Wednesday after the White House said China wanted to make a trade deal, but Asian stocks then slipped during Thursday trade after President Trump claimed China "broke the deal" in negotiations.
•Asian shares fell to eight-week lows on Thursday as investors waited to see whether Chinese and U.S. trade negotiators can salvage a deal to stave off the threat of fresh U.S. tariff increases, which would damage global economic growth.
Chinese Vice Premier Liu He is set for talks in Washington on Thursday and Friday with U.S. officials who have complained that Beijing has backtracked on earlier commitments.
An agreement could avert a sharp increase in U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods that President Donald Trump has threatened to impose on Friday. China has threatened to retaliate, raising the risk of a major escalation in the bruising trade war between the world’s two largest economies.
In Asia, MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan dropped over 1 percent to its lowest level since March 11.
•Japan’s Nikkei fell for a fourth day on Thursday to end at its lowest since late March as investor caution prevailed ahead of the next round of Sino-U.S. trade talks.
The Nikkei share average dropped 0.93 percent to 21,402.13, its lowest finish since March 29.
“The direction of the Japanese market relies on the outcome of the trade talks on Friday. If the two countries delay the conclusion while keeping the market with a bit of hope, we may not see much turbulence,” said Isao Kubo, an equity strategist at Nissay Asset Management.
•China’s major stock indexes fell on Thursday to close at 11-week lows, as trade tensions escalated after U.S. President Donald Trump vowed not to back down on imposing new tariffs on Chinese imports.
The blue-chip CSI300 index fell 1.9 percent, to 3,599.70, while the Shanghai Composite Index declined 1.5 percent to 2,850.95.
Reference: Reuters, CNBC, BBC
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