* European stocks open higher
* Asian Market, Wall Street fall
* Safe Havens currencies rise
By Julien Ponthus
LONDON, Dec 4 (Reuters) - European stocks opened higher on
Wednesday, recovering some of the losses made in the previous
session when U.S. President Donald Trump surprised world markets
by saying a trade deal with China could wait until after the
2020 presidential election.
U.S. stocks sold off for a third consecutive session
overnight, while Asian shares extended losses as hopes for a
quick preliminary agreement between the world's two biggest
economies were dashed.
A full-blown global trade war is currently seen as the
biggest threat to world markets. Fresh U.S. tariffs on Argentina
and Brazil, plus a threaten to impose duties on French goods,
are fuelling fears that risks are tilting towards an escalation
of the crisis.
"Any doubts about the vulnerability of equity markets to the
mood of the U.S. President should have been dispelled, as his
recent tweets and comments have nearly wiped out the entirety of
November's gains," said Ian Williams, economics & strategy
analyst at Peel Hunt.
The pan-European equity index STOXX 600 .STOXX , which had
slumped 2.2% since the beginning of the month, rose 0.4% but
futures markets were still pointing to a slightly negative open
on Wall Street.
The mood on European trading floor is subject to change,
with investors awaiting a salvo of surveys on the health of the
service sector of major European countries.
"For some months now there has been a concern that the
weakness in the manufacturing sector might start to weigh on
services activity and there has been some evidence of that in
recent months, though not quite to the same extent," wrote
Michael Hewson, chief market analyst at CMC Markets, to clients.
The latest trade war scare has put the brakes on a rally
that had lifted the S&P 500 since early October, when top
diplomats from China and the United States met and outlined an
initial agreement that Trump said he hoped could be sealed
within weeks.
U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said that if no
substantial progress was made soon, another round of duties on
Chinese imports including cell phones, laptops and toys would
take effect on Dec. 15.
The U.S. House of Representatives' passage of a bill
proposing a stronger response to a crackdown on Muslims in
China's west also added yet another layer of tension, drawing
swift condemnation from Beijing on Wednesday.
Beijing's handling of civil unrest in Hong Kong has also
drawn criticism from Washington.
"The market was too complacent, thinking both superpowers
would be able to compartmentalize these issues away from the
broader trade narrative," Stephen Innes chief Asia market
strategist at AxiTrader, said in a note.
In currency markets, the euro was flat against the dollar at
1.1081. The Japanese yen and Swiss franc, seen as safe havens
stood during market storms were making gains, up 0.17% and 0.13%
respectively.
European yields continued their descent on Wednesday as
investors continued to fret about the impact of America's trade
war, falling between one and two basis points.
The yield on benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasuries US10YT=RR
fell as low as 1.6930% overnight, the sharpest fall since May
and was trading at 1.7105% on Wednesday.
Gold XAU= rose 0.4% to $1,482.9 per ounce.
Brent crude LCOc1 futures were up 0.58% at $61.17 a barrel
while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude CLc1 gained 0.52% to
$56.39 per barrel.