Any sneeze in China and mining stocks catch a cold. The escalation of protests in Hong Kong and President Donald Trump's rebuffal of comments that the U.S. would remove some of the tariffs on Chinese imports have boosted fears that the fallout of the tensions would impact Chinese economic growth and, by extension, metal demand. Anglo American (OTC:NGLOY), Rio Tinto ADR (NYSE:RIO), Glencore (OTC:GLNCY) and BHP Group (LON:BHPB) are all flashing red this morning, trading between 1.87% and 2.44% lower.
Sterling shrugs off GDP decline
The pound is holding its ground for the moment in the face of worsening UK economic data showing that the economy rose at the slowest rate since 2010. The numbers were not unexpected – the majority of Britain’s economic indicators have been pointing in that direction for months – but what did fuel concerns is that the monthly growth rate was even below some conservative growth estimates. The election campaign is heating up with promises of some serious spending from both major parties but the markets seem to be handling them with a healthy pinch of salt. Sterling is trading at $1.2803 and at EUR1.16.
Brent crude nudges lower as prospect of OPEC slips away
The next OPEC meeting in Vienna is now just over two weeks away and the pre-OPEC production chatter is intensifying, showing that producers are less than keen to opt for further production cuts despite the recent weakness in oil prices. Oman’s energy minister clarified the situation Monday saying that while the cartel is likely to continue with the existing cuts it was unlikely to curb production any further. Given the already fragile situation surrounding the U.S.-China trade talks and prospects of lower demand from China, Brent crude prices dropped 1.17% this morning.