Yahoo Finance What to Watch: Tesco's weak results, China and India talk trade, Trump and Germany
Here are the top business, market, and economic stories you should be watching today in the UK, Europe, and abroad:
China and India talk trade wars
Chinese President Xi Jinping and Indian prime minister Narendra Modi are set to meet on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in Kyrgyzstan. China has hinted that Xi Jinping will stress the need to present a united front against US president Donald Trump’s increasingly protectionist trade policies.
Trump struck a more positive tone on the trade war on Wednesday, even as he again threatened to increase tariffs on Chinese goods if no deal is signed.
“But something’s going to happen and I think it’s going to be something very positive,” Trump said on Wednesday.
Stocks declined in Asia on Thursday for a second day amid continued protests in Hong Kong over a proposed extradition law. The Nikkei 225 (^N225) was down 0.46% and the Hang Seng (^HSI) by 0.81%. The SSE (^000001.SS) was up slightly.
Tesco reports as Morrisons extends Amazon deal
Supermarket giant Tesco (TSCO.L) reported on Thursday that its total sales declined in the first quarter of 2019, with the chain struggling to match last year’s hot summer and uplift from the royal wedding.
Though it said that it outperformed the grocery market overall, sales dipped by 0.8%, to £9.08bn. Tesco shares were down slightly following the news.
Its results came on the same day that Morrisons (MRW.L) and Amazon (AMZN) said that they would extend their same-day online grocery delivery partnership to more UK cities.
The service, which is currently available to Amazon's Prime Now customers in Leeds, Manchester, Birmingham, and parts of London, will now expand this year to Glasgow, Newcastle, Liverpool, Sheffield, and Portsmouth.
European markets are in the green
European markets were largely up on Thursday morning, with Germany’s DAX (^GDAXI) and France’s CAC 40 (^FCHI) both up slightly. London’s FTSE 100 (^FTSE) was up by 0.1%.
The uptick came even as British parliament signalled that it was willing to let the UK leave the European Union without a deal when the next deadline rolls around on October 31.
Boris Johnson, the favourite to succeed prime minister Theresa May, refused to rule out crashing out of the bloc at the launch of his leadership bid on Wednesday.
But he conceded that such a move should be a “last resort” after a confidential cabinet note published by the Financial Times warned that the country was not prepared for such a scenario.
Eurozone finance ministers will meet later on Thursday, with financial penalties for Italy’s debt load on the agenda.
Trump tackles Germany on gas pipeline
Trump on Wednesday attacked Germany yet again for its backing of the new Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline from Russia. This time, he threatened the country with sanctions over chancellor Angela Merkel’s support of the project.
By and large, Germany and Europe are dependent on Russia for natural gas — but the US wants to get in on the action.
Energy commodities come further into focus on Thursday as OPEC releases its oil demand and production forecasts.
What to expect in the US
Futures on the S&P 500 index (ES=F), up by 0.2%, suggested that stocks will open higher. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures (YM=F) were similarly in the green on Thursday morning, as were Nasdaq futures (NQ=F), which were up by almost 0.4%.
