The FTSE 100 (^FTSE) and European stocks finished lower while Wall Street edged up slightly on Monday, as US and Chinese officials met in London in a bid to make further progress in easing the trade war between the world's two largest economies.
Both sides have sent senior representatives — the US delegation is being led by Treasury secretary Scott Bessent, commerce secretary Howard Lutnick and US trade representative Jamieson Greer, while vice premier He Lifeng leads China’s team.
Reuters has predicted that today will probably be the first of two days of negotiations. Ian Bremmer, president of the Eurasia Group, fears there is little prospect of the bilateral relationship becoming constructive given broader decoupling trends and US pressure on other countries to take China out of their supply chains.
He wrote in an analyst's note: “Everyone around Trump is still hawkish and so a breakthrough in US-China trade deal is unlikely, especially in the context of other deals that are further along and prioritised.”
This round of meetings comes just four days after Donald Trump and Xi Jinping spoke on the phone in what was their first direct interaction since Trump’s inauguration in January.
A UK government spokesman said on Sunday: “We are a nation that champions free trade and have always been clear that a trade war is in nobody’s interests, so we welcome these talks.”
Follow along for live updates throughout the day:
LIVE 20 updates
Apple's WWDC 2025 kicks off in Cupertino, Calif., on June 9, offering developers and users a look at the changes coming to the company’s software products throughout the next year.
During last year's WWDC, Apple (AAPL) unveiled its Apple Intelligence AI platform. And while the showcase made for some impressive tech demos, the company hasn't been able to deliver on all of its high-flying promises.
There's still little sign of when Apple will begin rolling out its generative AI-powered Siri, and the AI capabilities it has pushed out aren't exactly blowing minds on Wall Street, or anywhere else, for that matter. There's a chance we could get some more insight into Apple's AI plans at this year's show, but don't expect the kind of splashy announcements we saw last year.
Still, the company is bound to debut a host of new and interesting features for its iOS, iPadOS, macOS, watchOS, and more. And there's always a chance, albeit slight, that Apple will take the wraps off a new piece of hardware.
Stocks in Asia rose overnight ahead of the second round of trade talks between Washington and Beijing, due in London later today.
The Nikkei (^N225) rose 0.9% on the day in Tokyo, as the Japanese economy contracted by 0.2% in the first quarter, while the Hang Seng (^HSI) climbed 1.4% in Hong Kong.
The Shanghai Composite (000001.SS) was 0.4% up by the end of the session despite the government reporting that exports slowed in May.
They grew 4.8% from a year earlier after a jump of more than 8% in April. Exports to the US fell almost 10% compared to the previous year.
China also reported a 0.1% year-on-year fall in consumer prices in May, marking the fourth consecutive month of deflation.
In South Korea, the Kospi (^KS11) added 1.6% on the day, while Australia’s market was closed for a public holiday.
On Friday, stocks gained ground on Wall Street following a better-than-expected report on the US job market. The gains were broad, with every sector in the S&P 500 (^GSPC) rising.
This solidified a second consecutive winning week for the benchmark index, which has rallied back from a slump two months ago, within striking distance of its record high.
The S&P 500 rose 1% to 6,000.36, the Dow Jones (^DJI) gained 1% to 42,762.87, while the Nasdaq (^IXIC) gained 1.2% to 19,529.95.
Good morning, and welcome back to our markets live blog. As usual we will be taking a deep dive into what's moving markets and happening across the global economy.
Here's a snapshot of what's on the agenda for today:
-
Trading updates: Cordel Group, Synectics, Strip Tinning
-
US Wholesales Inventories
-
US Consumer Credit
