US and China extend trade truce by two months

9 hours ago

(AWP Alliance News) - European equities are called lower ahead of a swathe of US data due later today.

Here is what you need to know before the European market open on Thursday:

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MARKETS

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CAC 40: called down 35.1 points, 0.4%, at 8,088.31

DAX 40: called down 113.7 points, 0.5%, at 25,296.93

FTSE 100: called down 42.8 points, 0.4%, at 10,662.46

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Hang Seng: down 0.5% at 24,704.75

S&P/ASX 200: down 0.8% at 8,695.90

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DJIA: closed down 352.10 points, 0.7%, at 51,511.59

S&P 500: closed down 58.61 points, 0.8%, at 7,706.03

Nasdaq Composite: closed down 308.24 points, 1.1%, at 26,936.04

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US 10-year Treasury yield: 5.11% (5.08%)

US 30-year Treasury yield: 5.41% (5.38%)

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EUR: lower at USD1.1378 (USD1.1391)

GBP: lower at USD1.3237 (USD1.3254)

USD: lower at JPY157.99 (JPY158.39)

gold: higher at USD4,286.09 per ounce (USD4,283.94)

oil (Brent): lower at USD102.24 a barrel (USD102.74)

(changes since previous London equities close)

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ECONOMIC CALENDAR

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08:30 EDT Canada manufacturer sales

08:30 EDT Canada retail sales

08:45 CEST France business climate indicator

08:45 CEST France business confidence

08:45 CEST France consumer confidence

10:00 CEST Germany Ifo business climate

South Africa Heritage Day. Financial markets closed.

09:00 CEST Spain PPI

09:30 CEST Switzerland interest rate decision

07:50 EDT US building permits

08:30 EDT US current account

08:30 EDT US initial jobless claims

10:00 EDT US new home sales

10:30 EDT US EIA natural gas stocks

11:00 EDT US Kansas City Fed manufacturing activity

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TOP ECONOMIC NEWS

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US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said that Washington and Beijing have agreed to a two-month extension of their trade truce, which was due to expire on November 10. The deal came after marathon talks between Bessent and his Chinese counterpart Vice Premier He Lifeng in New York on Sunday and in Washington on Wednesday. The announcement came just as Chinese leader Xi Jinping arrived in the US for a high-stakes summit with President Donald Trump. "We have agreed today that we will extend what we call the Busan Agreement, the economic detente between the two countries that was scheduled to end on November 10th," Bessent told Fox News in an interview. "That is going to be extended until January 10th to give us more time to see what we can do on the economic front," he added.

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President Trump's Board of Peace proposed a USD2.45 billion Gaza recovery plan at a meeting of its members and stakeholders, in an effort meant to span over six months. But the presentation in New York comes as world leaders like French President Emmanuel Macron and Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan have taken aim at the humanitarian situation in Gaza this week, calling for action to end the conflict with Israel. Top officials are gathered in the city this week for the United Nations General Assembly. Hamas militants launched a deadly attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, triggering a massive response. Since then, the Palestinian territory has been devastated by Israeli airstrikes. Nickolay Mladenov, the high representative for Gaza of the Board of Peace, urged for backing of its plan. But he acknowledged that discussions with Israel are not easy ahead of elections in the country, noting that conditions are "more politically sensitive. Given the complexity of what we're dealing with, I think we're making, slowly and steadily, progress," he insisted.

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Growth in Japan's private sector was weaker in September but business confidence improved, preliminary survey data from S&P Global showed. The flash Japan composite purchasing managers' index fell to 52.5 points in September from 53.5 points in August. A reading above the 50.0-point neutral mark indicates an overall increase in business activity from the previous month, while a reading below signals a contraction. The services PMI fell to 51.6 points in September from 52.5 points in the prior month. The manufacturing PMI declined to 54.1 points from 54.9 points, missing the FXStreet-cited consensus forecast of 55 points, while the manufacturing PMI output index dropped to 54.9 points from 56.1 points. Annabel Fiddes, economics associate director at S&P Global Market Intelligence, said: "The latest flash PMI results show Japan's private sector growth slipped down a gear in September, with business activity rising at the softest pace in four months.

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UK consumer sentiment worsened in September with a sharp decline among women, as the UK government budget due in late October draws closer. Data from the British Retail Consortium-Opinium consumer sentiment monitor showed that expectations for the state of the UK economy over the next three months deteriorated to minus 34 points in September from minus 28 points in August. Expectations for personal finances worsened to minus 15 points in September from minus 9 points in August. Helen Dickinson, chief executive of the British Retail Consortium, said: "With the budget looming large, consumers want to see government prioritise bringing down the cost of living."

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Australia's unemployment rate increased in August, official data showed. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 4.6% in August, ahead of the 4.5% FXStreet-cited consensus forecast and July's reading of 4.5%. The number of people employed rose 0.3% to 14.84 million in August from 14.80 million in July, while the number of unemployed people rose 4.1% to 722,900 from 694,700. Monthly hours worked across all jobs increased 0.7% to 2.01 billion from 2.00 billion. The underemployment rate declined 0.1 percentage points to 6.2% from 6.3%, while participation rate increased to 67.1% from 66.9%. ABS Head of Labour Statistics Sean Crick commented: "This August we recorded a higher proportion of people who were previously not in the labour force moving to being unemployed, compared to recent years.

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COMPANY CALENDAR

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AGL Energy Ltd - dividend payment date

BlackBerry Ltd - half year results

CK Hutchison Holdings Ltd - dividend payment date

Costco Wholesale Corp - full year results

Darden Restaurants Inc - Q1 results

Embracer Group AB - AGM

Halma PLC - trading statement

Hennes & Mauritz AB - Q3 results

Patria Private Equity Trust PLC - ex-dividend date

Qualcomm Inc - dividend payment date

Ramsay Health Care Ltd - dividend payment date

Rio Tinto PLC - dividend payment date

Suncorp Group Ltd - AGM

Telstra Group Ltd - dividend payment date

Victrex PLC - capital markets day

Wolters Kluwer NV - dividend payment date

Xylem Inc - dividend payment date

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TOP COMPANY NEWS

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Microsoft announced a framework in which it would invest over USD10 billion in the Middle East to boost its artificial intelligence infrastructure in the region. The Redwood, Washington-based software and cloud computing company said the framework would initially focus on Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE. The company will expand cloud infrastructure, government AI adoption initiatives and data protection and cybersecurity cooperation.

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UBS Group said the Swiss Council of States' decision will result in "excessive tightening" of Swiss capital requirements. The Zurich-based bank responded to the decision made by the Switzerland's upper house of parliament that UBS must hold 90% common equity tier 1 capital against its foreign subsidiaries. The Swiss government had previously considered a 100% CET1 requirement. UBS had proposed holding 50% CET1 capital and 50% additional tier 1 capital, which would be cheaper for the bank to hold. UBS said Swiss capital requirements are already "among the most stringent globally" and that the decision was a political one that fails to address the root cause of the Credit Suisse collapse in 2023. The bank said it will focus on protecting its long-term interests. UBS said: "It disregards the serious concerns expressed by the overwhelming majority of respondents in the democratic consultation process, which included all business representatives, the relevant employee associations and most cantons. The respondents clearly dismissed the Federal Council's extreme regulatory proposals as damaging to the Swiss economy."

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Glencore announced it was joining a new US critical minerals stockpile initiative, as Washington seeks to lower reliance on China for such resources, including rare earths. The Baar, Switzerland-based diversified mining company said it had received a USD500-million commitment from the Export-Import Bank of the US to help create "a strategic critical minerals reserve designed to strengthen US critical minerals supply chain". The financing would "enable Glencore to source, procure and deliver critical minerals" through a new public-private partnership named VaultCo, which would help "build strategic inventories that support American industry". Critical minerals include rare earth metals key to the production of everything from smart phones to fighter jets and electric cars. But these resources have become a bargaining chip, particularly as major producer China introduced restrictions on rare earth exports last year. Back in February, President Trump unveiled plans for "Project Vault", a nearly USD12-billion bid to stockpile critical minerals and effectively anything else needed by US industry.

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An autonomous OpenAI Group programme infiltrated an Australian government health website in June in an "unacceptable" breach, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said. The artificial intelligence agent accessed public and non-public files of the health statistics service, he told reporters in New York. OpenAI did not raise the alarm with the Australian government until September, when it sent an email outlining the incident to a generic email address. "Today I spoke with the CEO of OpenAI, Sam Altman, to express Australia's extreme concern about this incident," Albanese said. "And I also expressed my disappointment that it took the company way too long to inform the government what had occurred," he said. "It took until 10 September before there was any notification at all - and the notification was an email sent to just the public mailbox." Global worries about the power of advanced AI tools are mounting after a string of hacking incidents involving models from both OpenAI and rival developer Anthropic.

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Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei pledged to slow down where needed to ensure the safety of new AI technology releases, as he addressed the UN Security Council. "We will slow down as much as necessary in order to make sure that every successive AI technology that we release is actually safe," he told the UN via a video address.

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Washington H Soul Pattinson said its profit for financial year 2026 surged on a significant tax benefit. Soul Pattinson is a Sydney-based investment company. The firm posted profit after tax of AUD2.19 billion, USD1.54 billion, for the year ended July 31, multiplying from AUD364 million the year prior. Soul Patts saw a tax benefit of AUD805 million during its financial year as a result of its merger with Brickworks, which reset the firms' tax cost bases. Soul Patts completed its merger with Sydney-based Brickworks Ltd in September last year. Revenue was AUD1.49 billion for the period, more than doubling from AUD615 million a year ago. Basic earnings per share multiplied to 589.58 Australian cents per share, compared to 111.55 cents per share the year prior. The firm declared a final dividend of 63 cents per share, up 6.8% from 59 cents a year ago. This brought its total dividend to 111 cents per share, up 7.8% compared to 103 cents previously.

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Premier Investments delivered lower profit for its 2026 financial year as it closed its Peter Alexander business in the UK. The Melbourne, Australia-based specialty retail and investment group posted net profit after tax of AUD129.2 million, or USD90.9 million, for the year ended July 25, down 62% from AUD338.2 million the year prior. Profit from continuing operations fell to AUD129.2 million, down 10% from AUD144.0 million year-on-year. The firm said pretax profit in its retail segment - made up of over 400 Smiggle and Peter Alexander stores globally - fell 16% over the period to AUD149.1 million, declining from AUD178.3 million previously. The closure of its Peter Alexander stores in the UK cost the firm AUD9.0 million, it said. It said revenue was AUD844.9 million, falling 0.9% from AUD852.8 million the previous year. Basic earnings per share fell to 80.84 Australian cents per share, down 62% from 211.71 cents per share a year ago. Premier Investments declared a final dividend of 36.0 cents, down 28% against 50.0 cents previously, but bringing its total dividend to 81.0 cents, 62% higher than 50.0 cents a year ago.

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By Harvey Dorset, Alliance News reporter

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