* World shares slip after seven days of gains
* Trump holding up China deal, talks down Fed rates and
dollar
* Chinese inflation subdued ex-food, U.S. CPI barely budges
* Hong Kong markets, exposed shares hit by local unrest
* Oil prices fall 2% on demand concerns
By Marc Jones
LONDON, June 12 (Reuters) - World share markets snapped a
seven-day winning streak on Wednesday as the White House took a
tough line on trade talks with China, while a barely visible
rise in U.S. inflation kept up talk of an early cut in interest
rates there.
Europe's main markets and Wall Street futures .N both
followed Asia lower. London's FTSE .FTSE , the DAX in
Frankfurt .GDAXI and CAC40 in Paris .FCHI fell between 0.4%
to 0.8% as traders trimmed June's near 4% gains. .EU
Benchmark government bonds rallied as the caution returned
and the dollar hovered near an 11-week low as the 0.1% gain in
the U.S. consumer price index bolstered traders'
bets on the first Fed rate cut since the financial crisis.
FRX/
"I think we are in for a very nervous wait until next week's
FOMC meeting," Saxo Bank's head of FX strategy, John Hardy,
said.
"You have had the markets taking out aggressive positions on
where the Fed is going to go and everybody is wondering whether
they are ready to deliver as much, in terms of guidance, as has
been priced in."
Chinese inflation was in the mix, too. Figures overnight
showed it picked up to a 15-month high of 2.7%, mainly because
of surging pork prices. Excluding food, inflation rose only 1.6%
and with car sales also showing their worst ever monthly drop,
it suggested plenty of scope for more stimulus.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan
.MIAPJ0000PUS had slipped 0.6% after two days of gains and
after Wall Street's recent rally had stalled on Tuesday. .N
Japan's Nikkei .N225 dipped 0.3% and Shanghai blue chips
.CSI300 fell 0.7% following a 3% jump the day before.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng was the big drag though losing 1.7%
.HSI as demonstrators stormed roads next to government offices
to protest against a bill that would allow people to be sent to
China for trial.
"The impact was short-lived in the past," noted Alex Wong,
director at Ample Finance Group in Hong Kong. "This time people
will look at how the U.S. reacts to this kind of news. The U.S.
attitude towards Hong Kong and China are also not the same."
President Donald Trump said on Tuesday he was holding up a
trade deal with China and had no interest in moving ahead unless
Beijing agrees to four or five "major points", which he did not
specify. He said interest rates were "way too high"
and the Federal Reserve had "no clue".
Fed policymakers will meet on June 18-19 against the
backdrop of rising trade tensions, slowing U.S. growth and a
sharp step-down in hiring in May that have led markets to price
in at least two rate cuts by the end of 2019.
Futures FEDWATCH imply around an 80% chance of a rate cut
as early as July.
OIL TOILS
Trump also alarmed currency markets by tweeting that the
euro and other currencies were "devalued" against the dollar,
putting the United States at a "big disadvantage".
The euro eased to $1.1318 EUR= , just short of the recent
three-month high of $1.1347. The dollar fell against the yen to
as low as 108.20 JPY= and stalled on a basket of currencies at
96.608 .DXY .
"The President's tweets on the USD have the potential to
have much more lasting impact in the coming election year," said
Alan Ruskin, global head of G10 FX strategy at Deutsche Bank.
"Global conditions are nicely set for what has colourfully been
described as a 'currency war' or a currency race to 'the
bottom'."
The Turkish lira popped higher as its central bank left its
interest rate at 24% while in commodity markets, all the chatter
of rate cuts kept gold near 14-month highs at $1,335.51 per
ounce XAU= .
Oil prices dropped over 2% again though as concern about a
global economic slowdown offset expectations that OPEC and its
allies will extend their supply curbs. O/R
Hedge fund managers have been liquidating bullish oil
positions at the fastest rate since late 2018 amid growing
economic fears. Brent crude LCOc1 futures fell $1.2 cents to $61.05 a
barrel, while U.S. crude CLc1 lost $1.4 to $51.83 a barrel.
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Asia stock markets https://tmsnrt.rs/2zpUAr4
Asia-Pacific valuations https://tmsnrt.rs/2Dr2BQA
Past trade spats have caused dollar depreciation https://tmsnrt.rs/2WR0HkT
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