Europe: Shares steady with Fed’s summit in focus; US-EU lock in trade deal

EUROPEAN equities were subdued on Thursday as investors awaited updates from the Federal Reserve’s Jackson Hole symposium, while the United States and European Union locked in a framework trade deal reached last month.

The pan-European Stoxx 600 index closed flat at 559.07, while major bourses were mixed.

The EU said it would strive to ensure lower US tariffs apply to its car exports retroactively, as the EU and US detailed commitments made in a deal reached last month.

Officials said the deal did not include wine and spirits but the door was not closed to such tariff reductions.

European automobiles stocks, however, were down 0.4 per cent.

“There’s a sort of fatigue creeping in about these trade deals and a certain amount of scepticism,” said Chris Beauchamp, chief market analyst at IG Group.

“This doesn’t really close the issue of tariffs … It’s now a question of how far does it impact profit margins and inflation.”

Most consumer-facing sectors such as retail and personal goods fell, after gains on Wednesday.

On the flip side, rising oil prices lifted the energy sector 0.9 per cent, while defence stocks rose 1.7 per cent, after facing pressure this week on expectations of a Ukraine-Russia peace deal.

Global central bankers will be at the Fed’s summit, and the focus will be on Chair Jerome Powell’s speech for hints of possible US rate cuts this year.

Analysts expect Powell won’t commit to a September rate cut, but markets have largely priced in a 25 basis point reduction following a bleak US jobs report earlier this month.

Beauchamp said that embracing a September cut “will be a cautious commitment from a chief who wants to end his term as an independent agent and not a creature of the president”.

Data on Thursday showed a fall in euro zone consumer confidence and an acceleration in business activity in August.

Meanwhile, three source told Reuters that Russian President Vladimir Putin was demanding that Ukraine give up all of the eastern Donbas region, renounce ambitions to join Nato, remain neutral and keep Western troops out of the country.

Among individual movers, CTS Eventim dropped 16.9 per cent to bottom the Stoxx 600 in its steepest decline since July 2002 after the German ticketing firm reported second-quarter results below expectations.

WH Smith slumped 42.3 per cent, its biggest percentage drop on record, after the British travel retailer lowered the full-year profit outlook for its North America division.

Dutch insurer Aegon added 7.6 per cent to hit its highest in over 10 years, and topped the Stoxx 600, after doubling its share buyback to 400 million euros (S$600.6 million) and announcing plans to redomicile to the United States. REUTERS