LONDON, May 13, 2019 (AFP): World stocks sank Monday in reaction to new eruptions in the US-China trade war, while oil rallied on simmering tensions in the crude-rich Middle East.
In cryptocurrency deals, bitcoin rebounded back above $7,000 for the first time since September.
Equity investors began the day in underwhelming fashion in Asia, as the lack of a US-China trade deal jarred markets.
Negative sentiment spilled over into Europe on the back of the latest developments in the trade war between the world's top two economies.
Negotiations in Washington ended Friday without agreement and a massive US tariff hike on Chinese imports kicked in.
Then on Monday, President Donald Trump told China via Twitter not to retaliate, a warning ignored by Beijing where the government announced tariffs on $60 billion worth of US goods from June 1.
- 'Nowhere near' -
"Judging by Trump's tweets alone, the two nations are apparently nowhere near signing a trade deal," said Fawas Razaqzada, a market analyst at Forex.com.
"And for the markets, this is all that matters right now. Thus, for sentiment to improve again, Trump's tone towards China will need to improve first and foremost," he said.
At the opening bell in New York, Wall Street's Dow index fell more than 400 points, while eurozone stock markets were as much as 1.5 percent lower by that time, with London doing a little better.
Markets remain on red alert over a trade war between the two big superpowers that observers warn could shatter global economic growth -- and also hurt demand for commodities like oil.
