Market news

LONDON, Dec 28 (Reuters) – European shares edged up on Friday, buoyed by a bounce on Wall Street as a turbulent week drew to a close and investors licked their wounds after the region’s benchmark STOXX 600 sank to its lowest level since U.S. President Donald Trump’s election.

The STOXX 600 was up 1 percent by 0827 GMT with Britain’s FTSE 100 up 1.2 percent. The pan-European benchmark hit a low of 327.34 points on Thursday, its lowest level since Nov. 9, 2016.

Volumes remained very light with many investors away for the Christmas holidays. Just 5 percent of the 30-day average daily volume was traded in the first 30 minutes, usually the busiest.

The oil sector was the top gainer in early deals as crude prices clawed back some of their lost ground. Europe’s oil and gas index jumped 1.5 percent.

Aker BP, John Wood Group, Subsea 7 , and Premier Oil all gained 2.6 to 5.1 percent.

Christmas week has been a wild ride for investors, with U.S. and European stocks suffering significant losses on Dec. 24, but Wall Street’s recovery rally on Thursday to gains of more than 1 percent helped lift sentiment in Asia and Europe.

Threats lurked still, though, with a U.S. government shutdown continuing.

The most notable mover in illiquid trading was UK inkjet printer technology maker Xaar, whose shares fell 15.8 percent to the bottom of the small-cap index after a profit warning.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Both chambers of the U.S. Congress convened for only a few minutes late on Thursday, but took no steps to end a partial federal government shutdown before adjourning until next week.

Showing little sense of urgency over the shutdown, now in its sixth day, the Senate and the House of Representatives did nothing to restore funding for the roughly 20 percent of the government affected.

The shutdown was on track to continue into next week and possibly drag on well into January.

The shutdown was triggered by Republican President Donald Trump’s demand, largely opposed by Democrats and some lawmakers within his own party, that U.S. taxpayers provide $5 billion for a wall he wants to build along the U.S.-Mexico border.

Trump wants the money to be included in spending measures that Congress must pass to restore funding to several government agencies, including the departments of Homeland Security, Justice, Agriculture and Commerce.

NEW YORK, Dec 27 (Reuters) – U.S. Treasury yields fell on Thursday as the previous session’s dramatic rally in stocks ran out of steam, reviving demand for low-risk U.S. government debt.

U.S. stocks slid back the day after a spectacular rally lifted the blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average more than 1,000 points in one day for the first time ever. That came after the S&P 500 index on Monday tumbled to the brink of a bear market.

“The market traded well overnight as equities came off and it feels like a little bit of a bid here,” said Justin Lederer, an interest rate strategist at Cantor Fitzgerald in New York.

Stocks have been hurt on concerns that continuing Federal Reserve interest rate hikes will slow the economy, a move that has benefited bond prices.

A partial shutdown of the federal government is adding to economic uncertainty at a time of slowing international growth and concerns about trade tensions between the United States and China.

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Tuesday the shutdown would last until his demand for funds to build a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border is met.

Thin liquidity after the Christmas holiday on Tuesday and before the New Year holiday next Tuesday has added to volatility.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A partial U.S. government shutdown was widely expected to continue after Congress reconvenes on Thursday, with lawmakers split over President Donald Trump’s demand for $5 billion in taxpayer funding for a proposed Mexican border wall.

The Senate and the House of Representatives were set to meet at 4 p.m. EST on the sixth day of the shutdown and resume debating ways to end it. That will include Senate consideration of a measure already approved by the Republican-controlled House that meets Trump’s wall-funding demand.

For that bill to move forward in the 100-seat Senate, it would need 60 votes. Republicans will control 53 seats in 2019, so they will try to convince some Democrats to back it.

But Democrats largely oppose Trump’s proposed wall. They have offered support for $1.3 billion in general border security funding. It was not clear if some compromise could be struck between that offer and Trump’s demand.

Over the weekend, White House acting Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney said the White House had made a counter-offer to Democrats on border security. Media reports said Vice President Mike Pence had proposed $2.1 billion in funding.

Trump said on Wednesday, on a surprise visit to Iraq, that he could wait to get his wall funded. Asked how long that wait might last, he said, “Whatever it takes.”

On Jan. 3, the 2017-18 Congress will be replaced by the 2019-20 Congress and control of the House will switch to the Democrats from the Republicans. At that time, Representative Nancy Pelosi is expected to take over as House speaker.

She has vowed swift action to fully reopen the government. Barring some sort of deal in the interim, House Democrats expect to vote on a funding bill on Jan. 3, said a Democratic aide.

BERLIN (Reuters) – European Commissioner Guenther Oettinger said on Thursday there is still a chance that Britain’s parliament will vote in favour of the Brexit agreement in January and that there was no public support for a disorderly Brexit or another referendum.

Prime Minister Theresa May has struck a withdrawal agreement with Brussels but she was forced to postpone a parliamentary vote on it earlier this month after admitting she would lose by a large margin. Britain is due to leave the EU on March 29.

“It is not entirely unlikely that the British parliament will vote for the divorce agreement in January,” Oettinger told Funke Media Group in an interview. “There is certainly no majority for a disorderly Brexit or for a new referendum.”

Oettinger said that the likelihood of Britain remaining in the EU had increased slightly over the past few months. “Nevertheless, I assume that it will come to an exit at the end of March,” said Oettinger, the EU’s budget commissioner.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Donald Trump is considering an executive order in the new year to declare a national emergency that would bar U.S. companies from using telecommunications equipment made by China’s Huawei and ZTE, three sources familiar with the situation told Reuters.

It would be the latest step by the Trump administration to cut Huawei Technologies Cos Ltd [HWT.UL] and ZTE Corp, two of China’s biggest network equipment companies, out of the U.S. market. The United States alleges that the two companies work at the behest of the Chinese government and that their equipment could be used to spy on Americans.

The executive order, which has been under consideration for more than eight months, could be issued as early as January and would direct the Commerce Department to block U.S. companies from buying equipment from foreign telecommunications makers that pose significant national security risks, sources from the telecoms industry and the administration said.

While the order is unlikely to name Huawei or ZTE, a source said it is expected that Commerce officials would interpret it as authorization to limit the spread of equipment made by the two companies. The sources said the text for the order has not been finalized.

The executive order would invoke the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, a law that gives the president the authority to regulate commerce in response to a national emergency that threatens the United States.

LONDON (Reuters) – Oil edged up to $51 a barrel on Wednesday after reaching its lowest since June 2017 on perceptions that a price slide prompted by worries over the global economy had been overdone amid an OPEC-led effort to tighten supply.

Crude has been caught up in wider financial market weakness as the U.S. government shutdown, higher U.S. interest rates and the U.S.-China trade dispute unnerved investors and exacerbated worries over global growth.

Brent crude LCOc1, the global benchmark, was up 43 cents at $50.90 at 0949 GMT. It earlier fell to $49.93, the lowest since July 2017, and posted a 6.2 percent slide in the previous session.

U.S. crude CLc1 was up 74 cents at $43.27.

“I think there is a little bit of over-extension to the downside linked to global market fears,” said Olivier Jakob, analyst at Petromatrix. “It’s all about equities.”

“OPEC has shown it wants a higher prices and is working towards that goal.”

Trade was thin due to the Christmas holidays. Asian stock markets retreated again on Wednesday. Markets in Britain, Germany and France will remain closed on Wednesday.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Donald Trump on Tuesday expressed confidence in Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin amid worries over a weakening economy and a stock market slump, but repeated his criticism of the U.S. Federal Reserve, saying it has raised interest rates too quickly.

Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office after a Christmas video conference with U.S. troops deployed abroad, Trump also said U.S. companies were “the greatest in the world” and presented a “tremendous” buying opportunity.

Asked if he has confidence in Mnuchin, Trump said: “Yes, I do. Very talented guy. Very smart person,” he said. His comments came after Mnuchin on Monday held a conference call with U.S. regulators to discuss plunging U.S. stock markets.

The call did more to rattle markets than to assure them. All three major U.S. stock indexes ended down more than 2 percent on the day before the Christmas holiday. The S&P 500 has lost about 19.8 percent from its Sept. 20 closing high, just shy of the 20 percent threshold that commonly defines a bear market.

Mnuchin also spoke on Sunday with the heads of the six largest U.S. banks, who confirmed they have enough liquidity to continue lending and that “the markets continue to function properly.”

Investors said his move to convene a call with the president’s Working Group on Financial Markets, known as the “Plunge Protection team,” may have weighed on sentiment.

U.S. stocks have dropped sharply in recent weeks on concerns over weaker economic growth. Trump has largely laid the blame for economic headwinds on the Fed, openly criticizing its chairman, Jerome Powell, whom he appointed.

“They’re raising interest rates too fast because they think the economy is so good. But I think that they will get it pretty soon,” Trump said, repeating his criticism.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Donald Trump blasted the Federal Reserve on Monday, describing it as the “only problem” for the U.S. economy, as top officials convened to discuss the growing rout in stock markets caused in part by the president’s attacks on the central bank.

Stocks fell again on Monday amid concern about slowing economic growth, the government shutdown and reports that Trump had discussed firing Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, whom he has repeatedly criticized for raising interest rates.

U.S. stocks have dropped sharply in recent weeks on concerns over weaker economic growth. The S&P 500 index .SPX was on pace for its biggest percentage decline in December since the Great Depression.

In a tweet that did nothing to ease market concerns about the Fed’s cherished independence, the Republican president laid the blame for economic headwinds firmly at the feet of the central bank.

“The only problem our economy has is the Fed. They don’t have a feel for the market,” Trump said on Twitter. “The Fed is like a powerful golfer who can’t score because he has no touch – he can’t putt!”

A crisis call on Monday between U.S. financial regulators and the Treasury Department did more to rattle markets than to assure them.

All three major indexes ended down more than 2 percent on the day before the Christmas holiday. The S&P 500 ended down about 19.8 percent from its Sept. 20 closing high, just shy of the 20 percent threshold that commonly defines a bear market.

Oil prices followed equities down, tumbling more than 6 percent to the lowest level in over a year.

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin hosted a call with the president’s Working Group on Financial Markets, a body known colloquially as the “Plunge Protection team,” which normally only convenes during times of heavy market volatility.

Regulators on the call said they were not seeing anything out of the ordinary in financial markets during the recent sell-off and also discussed how they will continue critical operations during the partial government shutdown, according to two sources familiar with the matter.