市场消息

LONDON (Reuters) – Oil prices dropped on Monday, nearing their lowest level this year, in line with another decline across global stock markets, which came under pressure from concern about a U.S. government shutdown and a worsening world economy.

The price of oil has already fallen by more than 30 percent so far this quarter to its lowest since the third quarter of 2017, as investors have grown increasingly wary of the impact to global growth, and crude demand, from an escalating trade dispute between the United States and China.

LONDON (Reuters) – World stocks were set for their seventh straight day of losses on Monday, as investors nervy about the possibility of a prolonged U.S. government shutdown and a worsening global economy opted for the safety of bonds and gold.

MSCI’s world equity index .MIWD00000PUS, which tracks shares in 47 countries, was 0.15 percent lower on the day and down almost 7 percent in the past seven sessions — its worst stretch of daily losses since January 2016. The index is also just off its lowest level since March 2017.

U.S. stocks have fallen sharply in recent weeks on concerns over slowing economic growth, with the S&P 500 index .SPX on pace for its biggest percentage decline in December since the Great Depression. The Nasdaq .IXIC has fallen nearly 22 percent from its Aug. 29 high.

European stocks followed Asian bourses lower, with a pan-European index lower half a percent on the day and a shade away from a one-year low hit on Friday.

This added to a similar move in MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS, though losses were limited as many bourses were either shut or set to close early ahead of Christmas.

The political uncertainty has only added to the air of risk aversion, punishing equities to the benefit of bonds. Ten-year Treasury yields were near their lowest since August at 2.789 percent US10YT=RR, having fallen over 40 basis points in just six weeks.

The gap between two- and 10-year yields has shrunk to only 14 basis points, a flattening of the curve that has sometimes heralded economic turning points in the past.

MILAN (Reuters) – European shares fell on Monday as worries over slowing economic growth and tighter monetary conditions kept the region’s equities on course for their biggest yearly loss in a decade.

Activity was thin, however, with many markets closed or trading for a half-day only before the Christmas holiday.

By 0956 GMT, Britain’s FTSE 100 .FTSE was down 0.6 percent, while France’s CAC .FCHI and Spain’s IBEX .IBEX had eased 0.9 and 0.6 percent respectively. Germany’s DAX .GDAXI and Italy’s FTSE MIB .FTMIB were shut.

“Markets still under pressure from last week’s more hawkish Fed update, exacerbating fears about slowing growth and more expensive refinancing following years of stimulus,” said Mike van Dulken, Head of Research at Accendo Markets.

European shares are down nearly 14 percent year-to-date and on track for their worst year since 2008, having fallen back to a two-year-low on last week’s rate outlook from the U.S. Federal Reserve.

The UK’s complicated divorce from the EU, Italy’s contested budget and a trade spat between Washington and Beijing have also been weighing this year, forcing analysts to progressively cut their earnings growth estimates for European companies.

On Monday, investors were also fretting about political stability in the United States after an aide to President Donald Trump said the partial government shutdown could continue into the new year.

Corporate news was thin but the pan-European exchange operator Euronext (ENX.PA) said it aimed to buy the Oslo stock exchange for 625 million euros. Euronext (ENX.PA) shares fell as much as 0.7 percent before recovering most of its losses.

Among major European benchmarks, Germany’s export-oriented DAX index, which is heavily exposed to China, is set to be the worst performer, down more than 17 percent so far in 2018.

France’s CAC is down 12.5 percent, the FTSE 100 down 13.1 percent and Italy’s FTSE MIB down 15.8 percent.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump’s budget director and chief of staff on Sunday said the partial U.S. government shutdown could continue to Jan. 3, when the new Congress convenes and Democrats take over the House of Representatives.

“It’s very possible this shutdown will go beyond (December) the 28th and into the new Congress,” Mick Mulvaney said on Fox News Sunday.

“I don’t think things are going to move very quickly here for the next few days” because of the Christmas holiday, added Mulvaney, who serves as director of the Office of Management and Budget and was named acting White House chief of staff 10 days ago.

The U.S. Senate adjourned on Saturday, unable to break an impasse over Trump’s demand for more funds for a wall on the border with Mexico that Democrats are unwilling to accept.

SINGAPORE (Reuters) – China, the world’s top oil importer, is set to start 2019 buying little or no crude from the United States despite a three-month truce in a trade scrap between the two nations, with relatively high freight costs and political uncertainty choking demand.

That muted appetite means the United States, which became the world’s top oil producer this year as its shale output hit record levels, will continue to hold only a sliver of China’s market even as a wave of new refining capacity starts up there.

It also suggests that China is unlikely to use crude purchases to help plug a widening trade gap with the United States, which remains a core source of tensions between the world’s top two economies.

The U.S. trade deficit with Beijing hit a record $43 billion in October as its firms stockpiled inventory from China to avoid higher tariffs that may kick in next year.

“Chinese companies have little incentive to buy U.S. crude due to the wide availability of crude supplies today from Iran and Russia,” said Seng Yick Tee, an analyst at Beijing-based consultancy SIA Energy.

“Even though the trade tension between China and the U.S. had been defused recently, the executives from the national oil companies hesitate to procure U.S. crude unless they are told to do so.”

China stopped U.S. oil imports in October and November after the trade war intensified. It resumed some imports in December, but purchased just 1 million barrels, a minute portion of the more than 300 million barrels of total imports, Refinitiv data showed.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. government was headed to a partial shutdown unless President Donald Trump and Congress can cut a deal on Friday on their long-running battle over Trump’s demand for a wall on the border with Mexico.

Funding for a range of federal agencies is set to expire at midnight on Friday. Trump pushed Republican allies in the House of Representatives on Thursday to use the short-term funding bill as leverage to force through $5 billion for the border wall despite Democratic objections.

Following the House’s vote on Thursday night, Appropriations Committee Chairman Rodney Frelinghuysen said, “I now urge the Senate to pass this continuing resolution and prevent a government shutdown.”

The Senate is expected to reject that legislation – leaving the government without the needed funding for agencies including the Department of Homeland Security, the Justice Department and Agriculture Department, which would have to pare staff down to those deemed “essential” to public safety.

TIANJIN, China (Reuters) – China’s Foreign Ministry said on Friday it resolutely opposed “slanderous” accusations from the United States and other allies criticizing China for economic espionage, urging Washington to withdraw its accusations.

The United States should also withdraw charges against two Chinese citizens, the ministry said, adding that China had never participated in or supported any stealing of commercial secrets and had lodged “stern representations” with Washington.

“We urge the U.S. side to immediately correct its erroneous actions and cease its slanderous smears relating to internet security,” it said, adding that it would take necessary measures to safeguard its own cybersecurity and interests.

It has long been an “open secret” that U.S. government agencies have hacked into and listening in on foreign governments, companies and individuals, the ministry added.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A top Republican in the U.S. House of Representatives, Steve Scalise, said on Thursday that lawmakers in his chamber would move to add $5 billion for President Donald Trump’s proposed border wall to a short-term funding bill, as they race to avert a partial government shutdown.

Scalise said the Republican-led House would attach the border wall money as an amendment to short-term funding legislation coming from the Senate. He said it would also add funds for disaster aid.

Amendments require a vote from the House, which could make timing tight as current funding ends at Friday midnight.

MUNICH/SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – A German court ruled on Thursday that iPhone maker Apple Inc infringed a hardware patent of Qualcomm Inc and said the U.S. company could no longer sell some iPhone models in Germany which contain a particular component.

The ruling will not go into immediate effect if Apple appeals, judge Matthias Zigann told the court.

The German case is Qualcomm’s third major effort to secure a ban on Apple’s lucrative iPhones over patent infringement allegations after similar court efforts in the United States and in China.