Wall Street’s main indexes were mixed at today’s opening after US President Donald Trump confirmed the meeting with his Chinese counterpart was still on, while worries over regional bank credit issues kept investors on edge.
The Dow Jones fell 90 points (0.2%) at the open to stand at 45,862, while the S&P 500 fell 16 points (0.24%) to trade at 6,613 and the Nasdaq Composite index dropped 72 points (0.32%) to reach 22,490.
European shares continued to tumble this afternoon, and were on course for their biggest drop in more than two months, as worries about the health of US regional banks hurt shares of lenders globally.
London’s FTSE index had dropped 85 points (0.9%) to stand at 9,350 by 2.40pm, while the Frankfurt DAX lost 405 points (1,6%) to trade at 23,867 but the Paris CAC managed to narrow its losses to trade fairly flat at 8,187 this afternoon.
Dublin’s ISEQ index also saw steep losses this afternoon, falling by 181 points (1.5%) to reach 11,470. The banking shares were all weaker with Bank of Ireland sinking 4.8% to stand at €13.11, while AIB fell 3% to trade at €7.40 and PTSB was down 2.6% to hit €2.24.
Earlier in Asian trade, Tokyo’s Nikkei index lost 695 points (1.4%) to close at 47,582 as bank shares declined on signs of credit stress at US regional banks, and as a stronger yen hurt sentiment. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index dived 641 points (2.5%) to finish at 25,247 as investor caution over trade uncertainties and profit-taking from artificial intelligence shares dampened sentiment ahead of a Chinese leadership conclave in Beijing next week.
