European Equities Give Up Gains As Wall Street Drops 18 Oct 2018

Europe's stock markets gave up an early attempt to recover ground Thursday, trading lower as Wall Street opened down amid lingering fears of rising US interest rates.

London, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 18th Oct, 2018 ) :Europe's stock markets gave up an early attempt to recover ground Thursday, trading lower as Wall Street opened down amid lingering fears of rising US interest rates.

Global markets are "scrutinizing yesterday's release of the minutes from the US Fed's September monetary policy meeting that suggested rate hikes are likely to continue", analysts at Charles Schwab said.

Rate fears are just one item on a smorgasbord of worries, including over global trade wars, high oil price, Brexit uncertainty and Italy's ongoing fiscal troubles, analysts said.

European markets have been "sipping on a Brexit/trade war/Italian budget/US interest rates cocktail", said Spreadex analyst Connor Campbell.

Earlier, Asian markets resumed falls as investors contemplated more interest rate hikes by the Federal Reserve, while Washington added to China-US frictions.

Shanghai dived almost three percent to a four-year low as already-strained relations between China and the US took another hit after the White House said it plans to withdraw from an international treaty on postal rates, in a decision aimed at pressuring Beijing.

The "president has gone postal, escalating US-China tensions and a stronger Dollar will pose considerable headwinds to local equity markets," warned Oanda analyst Stephen Innes.

- Brexit transition extension? - Meanwhile, UK Prime Minister Theresa May said Britain would consider extending the transition period after Brexit for a few months if needed, to agree a new trade deal with the European Union.

EU negotiator Michel Barnier raised the idea as a way of breaking the deadlock on how to keep Britain's border with Ireland open after Brexit, the key issue holding up the divorce talks.

But May emphasised she did not expect the extension beyond the current date of December 2020 to be needed, amid anger among eurosceptics at home that Britain could be tied to the EU indefinitely.

"Markets appear to be viewing the Brexit negotiations with the same exhaustion as everyone else, as both sides play for time," noted IG analyst Chris Beauchamp.

"The risk of wandering into a 'no deal' scenario is still on the rise," he warned.

- Key figures around 1340 GMT - London - FTSE 100: DOWN 0.2 percent at 7,040.78 points Frankfurt - DAX 30: DOWN 0.1 percent at 11,702.31 Paris - CAC 40: UP 0.1 percent at 5,152.00 EURO STOXX 50: DOWN 0.2 percent at 3,238.79 New York - Dow Jones: DOWN 0.5 percent at 25,578.57 Tokyo - Nikkei 225: DOWN 0.8 percent at 22,658.16 (close) Hong Kong - Hang Seng: FLAT at 25,454.55 (close) Shanghai - Composite: DOWN 2.9 percent at 2,486.42 (close) Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.1499 from $1.1501 at 2100 GMT Pound/dollar: DOWN at $1.3100 from $1.3115 Dollar/yen: DOWN at 112.55 from 112.65 yenOil - Brent Crude: DOWN $1.22 at $78.83 per barrelOil - West Texas Intermediate: DOWN $1.09 at $68.66