AFP - Squid Business

Stock markets diverge amid trade hopes, ahead of earnings

Global stocks markets diverged on Monday as investors welcomed the absence of further trade war escalation over the weekend and as countries seek to temper US President Donald Trump’s tariffs.While that was enough to help most Asian and European equities markets rise, investors on Wall Street took some money off the table ahead of upcoming corporate earnings reports and key economic data.”A weekend light on drama was just what the doctor ordered for financial markets,” said AJ Bell investment director Russ Mould.Analysts said that market sentiment has calmed since Trump dialled down pressure on Federal Reserve boss Jerome Powell and hinted at progress in trade talks with economic partners.”While last week’s market action and today’s early session suggest calmer waters, any sense of security is precarious,” said City Index and FOREX.com analyst Fawad Razaqzada.”Underneath the surface, key risks persist — trade tensions, recession worries, and monetary policy uncertainties are very much alive.”Investors will have plenty of corporate earnings and economic data to command their attention.”This week will be the first for a while where data and earnings will compete with tariff headlines,” said Jim Reid, global head of macro research at Deutsche Bank. US giants Amazon, Apple, Meta and Microsoft all report their first quarter earnings this week, with investors looking to assess the impact of tariffs on businesses. Eyes will also be on the release of several closely-watched US economic indicators which “may either dampen or revive concerns about recession in the world’s largest economy,” Mould added.Crude prices fell as investors worried about the impact of the trade war on the US economy.Bjarne Schieldrop said oil demand is “at risk as US consumers soon will face hard tariff realities”.Analysts are concerned that the punitive tariff levels that the US and Chinese government have imposed could lead to shortages of certain goods.US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Monday he was not concerned “at present” about American stores potentially running out of items due to Trump’s tariffs.Traders are hoping governments can hammer out deals with Trump to soften the impact of his sweeping tariffs, with reports last week saying China was considering exempting some US goods from its hefty retaliatory measures.Beijing has said there are no active negotiations between the economic superpowers and on Monday an official denied Trump’s claims to have spoken with Xi by phone.In Beijing, senior economic planner Zhao Chenxin said China was on the “right side of history” in its gruelling trade war with the United States.Japanese media reported that a second round of trade talks in Washington was set for Thursday.The discussions will be closely watched as a barometer for efforts by other countries seeking tariff relief.Bessent said earlier a trade “understanding” between South Korea and the United States could be reached by this week.- Key figures at 1530 GMT -New York – Dow: DOWN 0.1 percent at 40,073.25 pointsNew York – S&P 500: DOWN 0.7 percent at 5,489.46New York – Nasdaq: DOWN 1.2 percent at 17,173.28London – FTSE 100: FLAT at 8,417.34 (close)Paris – CAC 40: UP 0.5 percent at 7,573.76 (close)Frankfurt – DAX: UP 0.1 percent at 22,271.67 (close)Tokyo – Nikkei 225: UP 0.4 percent at 35,839.99 (close)Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: FLAT at 21,971.96 (close)Shanghai – Composite: DOWN 0.2 percent at 3,288.41 (close)Euro/dollar: UP at $1.1382 from $1.1359 on FridayPound/dollar: UP at $1.3390 from $1.3314 Dollar/yen: DOWN at 142.70 yen from 143.69 yenEuro/pound: DOWN at 85.00 pence from 85.31 penceWest Texas Intermediate: DOWN 1.7 percent at $61.96 per barrelBrent North Sea Crude: DOWN 1.7 percent at $64.66 per barrelburs-rl/cw

Les Bourses européennes terminent en petite hausse

Les marchés boursiers européens ont terminé en légère hausse lundi, faisant preuve de prudence en l’absence de nouvelles concernant les tensions commerciales, avant une semaine riche en indicateurs et résultats d’entreprises.Paris a pris 0,50%, Milan 0,31%, Francfort 0,13% et Londres est restée à l’équilibre (+0,02%).

Une coupure de courant “massive” touche “toute la péninsule ibérique”

Une coupure de courant massive survenue lundi en fin de matinée touche l’ensemble de la péninsule ibérique, perturbant le trafic aérien et paralysant le trafic ferroviaire en Espagne.Des clients qui se précipitent sur les distributeurs bancaires aux rues bondées d’habitants cherchant désespérément à trouver un réseau téléphonique, la panne d’électricité géante crée la panique en Espagne.Le Premier ministre Pedro Sanchez tient une “réunion extraordinaire du conseil de sécurité national depuis 15H00 (13H00 GMT)”, ont indiqué ses services.En Espagne, Red Electrica a assuré avoir déployé “toutes les ressources pour remédier” à la panne, tout en estimant vers 13H00 GMT que ses équipes avaient besoin de “entre 6 à 10 heures” pour rétablir la situation “si tout va bien”.Peu avant 17H00 (15H00 GMT), le courant a été rétabli dans “plusieurs zones du Nord, du Sud et de l’Ouest” du pays, selon le Réseau d’Electricité en Espagne (REE).”Nous ne pouvons pas spéculer pour l’instant sur les causes” de la panne, a affirmé Eduardo Prieto, un responsable.Le président du Conseil européen Antonio Costa a souligné sur X qu’il n’y avait “pas d’indication d’une cyberattaque à ce stade”.La circulation des trains sur le réseau espagnol, interrompue en raison de la panne électrique géante qui touche l’ensemble de la péninsule ibérique, ne pourra pas être totalement rétablie lundi, a annoncé en fin d’après-midi le ministre espagnol des Transports.”Nous travaillons pour pouvoir reprendre ces services une fois l’alimentation électrique rétablie” mais “il n’est pas prévu que la circulation des trains de moyenne et longue distance soit rétablie aujourd’hui”, a assuré Oscar Puente sur le réseau social X.- Centrales nucléaires à l’arrêt -A Madrid comme à Barcelone, de nombreux habitants sont descendus dans la rue, leur téléphone à la main, en quête d’un hypothétique signal, circulant à pied au milieu d’embouteillages monstres.A Barcelone, Gloria Sanchis, une retraitée de 69 ans originaire d’Elche, dans la province d’Alicante, patiente déjà depuis une heure et demi pour prendre un bus qui doit l’emmener à l’aéroport.”Nous ne savons absolument rien, parce que les téléphones ne fonctionnent pas, il n’y a pas de connexion internet”, se lamente-t-elle.La compagnie téléphonique Telefónica, a précisé que depuis la panne survenue vers 10H30 GMT, elle opère “grâce à des générateurs et des batteries dans l’attente du retour du courant”.Les métros sont à l’arrêt et la direction générale du trafic routier (DGT) a demandé aux voitures de ne pas circuler.De son côté, le ministère de la Santé a indiqué dans l’après-midi sur X n’avoir été informé “d’aucun incident lié à la coupure de courant dans les hôpitaux” grâce à la mise en service de groupes électrogènes, et assuré avoir “suffisamment de réserves de carburant”.Et les centrales nucléaires espagnoles ont été mises à l’arrêt, une procédure de sécurité normale en cas de coupure d’électricité.- Coupures à Lisbonne -D’après la radio publique RNE, la coupure n’affecte pas les îles Canaries et les îles Baléares.Le trafic aérien est perturbé en Espagne et au Portugal, notamment les aéroports de Madrid, Barcelone et Lisbonne, selon l’organisme de surveillance du ciel européen Eurocontrol.Au Portugal, le gestionnaire du réseau électrique national(REN), a affirmé qu’il lui était “impossible de prévoir quand la situation reviendra à la normale”.”Tous les plans de rétablissement par étapes de l’approvisionnement d’énergie ont été activés, en coordination avec les producteurs et opérateurs européens d’énergie”, a précisé REN dans un communiqué envoyé à l’AFP. “Il s’agirait apparemment d’un problème dans le réseau de transport (d’énergie électrique, NDLR) dont la cause est encore à identifier, apparemment en Espagne”, a déclaré le ministre porte-parole du gouvernement, Antonio Leitao Amaro, à l’agence de presse Lusa.D’après plusieurs témoignages recueillis par l’AFP, la coupure de courant touche plusieurs quartiers de la capitale Lisbonne, où le système de signalisation routière est en panne.Selon les médias locaux, au moins quatre rames du métro de la capitale portugaise ont dû être évacuées.- “Aider l’Espagne” -Pour sa part, la Commission européenne a indiqué lundi être “en contact” avec les autorités espagnoles et portugaises afin de déterminer “les causes” de la panne d’électricité.L’exécutif européen continuera à “surveiller la situation” et veillera “à ce que l’échange d’informations entre toutes les parties concernées se fasse sans encombre”, a assuré une porte-parole.En France, la panne d’électricité a touché le Pays basque (sud-ouest), frontalier de l’Espagne, et a été de courte durée, le gestionnaire français du réseau RTE annonçant avoir rétabli l’approvisionnement d’énergie.RTE a indiqué que ses équipes ont mobilisées pour porter assistance au gestionnaire du réseau espagnol, et ont déjà réalimenté pour 700 MW de consommation via la France, a indiqué RTE. Le gestionnaire français a précisé qu’il était “en capacité d’augmenter son aide à l’Espagne à 950 MW dès que le réseau ibérique sera en capacité technique de l’accueillir”, a-t-il ajouté dans un communiqué.Récemment, dans le monde, hors coupures d’électricité liées à des phénomènes météo, des méga-pannes d’électricité ont affecté la Tunisie en septembre 2023, le Sri Lanka en août 2020, l’Argentine et l’Uruguay en juin 2019, ainsi que l’Inde, dont la moitié du pays est, fin juillet 2012, victime d’un black-out géant.En Europe, le 4 novembre 2006 avait marqué la première grande panne d’électricité communautaire, quand une défaillance du réseau allemand plonge dans le noir 10 millions de personnes dont la moitié en France et le reste en Allemagne, Belgique, Pays-Bas, Italie, Espagne, pendant près d’une heure.Trois ans, auparavant, l’Italie toute entière, sauf la Sardaigne, avait été privée d’électricité le 28 septembre 2003.burx-cn/thm

Une coupure de courant “massive” touche “toute la péninsule ibérique”

Conclave starts May 7, cardinals say new pope must tackle abuseMon, 28 Apr 2025 15:42:35 GMT

Conclave starts May 7, cardinals say new pope must tackle abuseMon, 28 Apr 2025 15:42:35 GMT Read More »

Conclave starts May 7, cardinals say new pope must tackle abuse

Catholic cardinals agreed on Monday to begin a conclave on May 7 to elect a new pope, and highlighted clerical sexual abuse as one of the key challenges facing Pope Francis’s successor.Cardinals under the age of 80 will meet in the Sistine Chapel to choose a new leader for the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics, in a mystery-shrouded ritual dating back to the Middle Ages.The date was decided at a meeting of cardinals of all ages early on Monday, two days after the funeral of Francis, who died on April 21 aged 88.The cardinals, known as “Princes of the Church”, outlined Catholicism’s most pressing challenges, including “evangelisation, the relationship with other faiths (and) the issue of abuse”, the Vatican said.”There was talk of the qualities that the new pontiff must possess to respond effectively to these challenges,” it added.The Church’s 252 cardinals were recalled to Rome after the Argentine pontiff’s death, although only 135 are eligible to vote in the conclave.They hail from all corners of the globe, and many of them do not know each other.But they already had four meetings last week, so-called “general congregations”, where they began to become better acquainted.- ‘Fraternal’ atmosphere -Cardinal Gualtiero Bassetti, 83, a former head of the Italian bishops’ conference, said there was a “beautiful fraternal atmosphere”.”Of course, there may be some difficulties because the voters have never been so numerous and not everyone knows each other,” he told Italy’s Corriere della Sera newspaper.On Monday, the Vatican closed the Sistine Chapel, where voting will take place under Michelangelo’s 16th-century ceiling frescoes, to begin preparations.So far there are few clues as to who the cardinals might choose.”I believe that if Francis has been the pope of surprises, this conclave will be too, as it is not at all predictable,” Spanish Cardinal Jose Cobo told El Pais in an interview published on Sunday.Francis was laid to rest on Saturday, a ceremony that drew 400,000 people, including royalty, world leaders and ordinary pilgrims.On Sunday, about 70,000 mourners filed past his marble tomb in the Santa Maria Maggiore Basilica in Rome, after the “pope of the poor” opted to be buried outside the Vatican’s walls.- ‘Sacred obligation’ -With conflicts and diplomatic crises raging around the world, Italian Cardinal Pietro Parolin is for many the favourite to succeed Francis.Parolin was secretary of state under Francis — the pope’s number two.British bookmakers William Hill put Parolin slightly ahead of Filipino Luis Antonio Tagle, the Metropolitan Archbishop emeritus of Manila, followed by Ghana’s Cardinal Peter Turkson.Next in their odds come Matteo Zuppi, the Archbishop of Bologna; Guinea’s Cardinal Robert Sarah; and Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem.Francis’s successor will inherit a series of measures he introduced to combat clerical sexual abuse.But victims’ associations say he did not do enough, and the scandals show no sign of abating.Anne Barrett Doyle from BishopAccountability.org told AFP the abuse archive “applaud(s) the acknowledgment by the cardinals that ending the abuse crisis must be a priority”.”The Church worldwide, through its parishes, schools, hospitals and orphanages, cares for tens of millions of children. The next pope’s most sacred obligation must be to protect them”, she said.The challenge is significant. In many African and Asian countries, the subject remains taboo.Even in Europe, Italy has yet to launch an independent investigation into abuse allegations.- ‘Unity’ -While Francis’s efforts to create a more compassionate Church earned him widespread affection and respect, some of his reforms angered the Church’s conservative wing, particularly in the United States and Africa.Roberto Regoli, a professor of Church history and culture at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome, told AFP the cardinals would be looking “to find someone who knows how to forge greater unity”.”We are in a period in which Catholicism is experiencing various polarisations, so I don’t imagine it will be a very, very quick conclave,” he said.Bassetti, who is too old to participate, said that he thought it “will not be long”.Some 80 percent of the cardinal electors were appointed by Francis — although that is no guarantee they will pick a successor in his mould.Most are relatively young, and for many it is their first conclave.- ‘Courageous leader’ -The vote is highly secretive and follows strict rules and ceremonial procedures.The process could take several days or potentially longer.There are four votes per day — two each in the morning and afternoon — until one candidate secures a two-thirds majority.Fewer than half of those eligible to vote are European.”The future pope must have a universal heart (and) love all the continents. We must not look at colour, at origin, but at what is proposed,” Cardinal Dieudonne Nzapalainga from the Central African Republic told the Italian newspaper Il Messaggero.”We need a courageous leader, a bold one, capable of speaking forcefully, of holding the helm of the Church steady even in storms… offering stability in an era of great uncertainty.”Italian pensioner Emilia Greco said she hoped “all the doors that Pope Francis opened — to hope, to those marginalised, to the poor… can be kept open and expanded, (to create) a truly inclusive Church”.

Conclave starts May 7, cardinals say new pope must tackle abuse

Empty shelves? US Treasury secretary not concerned ‘at present’

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Monday he was not concerned “at present” about American stores potentially running out of items due to President Donald Trump’s tariffs.The US president has introduced a 10 percent baseline tariff against most nations, and a far higher levy totaling 145 percent on goods coming from China.The White House also introduced several sector-specific tariffs of 25 percent, and has threatened to reimpose higher measures on dozens of trading partners if they do not reach a deal to lower trade barriers with the United States.Asked during an interview with “Fox and Friends” if he was concerned about reports of empty shelves due to the tariffs, Bessent replied: “Not at present.””We have some great retailers,” he said during the Fox News interview. “I assume they pre-ordered.””I think we’ll see some elasticities. I think we’ll see replacements, and then we will see how quickly the Chinese want to de-escalate.”Most countries chose not to respond to the Trump administration’s new tariffs, with the exception of China, which hit back with its own targeted measures against US goods.Beijing has announced reciprocal tariffs of up to 15 percent against US agriculture goods like soybeans, corn and beef, and an additional minimum 125 percent sweeping tariff on all US imports.”I think it’s unsustainable from the Chinese side, so maybe they’ll call me one day,” Bessent said.”In the history of trade negotiations or trade slowdowns, it is the surplus country that always loses the most,” he added.