Global stocks sank Wednesday after US President Donald Trump said he was not satisfied with talks that are aimed at averting a trade war with China. Equities were also dented by poor eurozone economic data, and as Trump cast doubt on a planned summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. “Trump (is) continuing to drive uncertainty over global trade,” said analyst Joshua Mahony at trading firm IG. “European markets are following their Asian counterparts lower, as a pessimistic tone from Trump is compounded by downbeat economic data,” he added. Markets had surged Monday after US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Chinese Vice Premier Liu He said they had agreed to pull back from imposing threatened tariffs on billions of dollars of goods, and continue talks on a variety of trade issues. However, Trump has declared that he was “not satisfied” with the status of the talks, fuelling worries that the world’s top two economies could still slug out an economically pain
Veteran Argentina midfielder Javier Mascherano said Thursday he will step down from international duty after the 2018 World Cup. The versatile Barcelona star, who turns 34 next June, is Argentina’s second most-capped player with 139 appearances for his country and played in the 2014 World Cup final defeat to Germany. He is also a four-time runner-up in the Copa America — finishing on the losing side in 2004, 2007, 2015 and 2016. “My time in the national team finishes in Russia, I won’t go any further,” Mascherano told Argentine TV station TyC Sports. “(Coach Jorge) Sampaoli will decide if I should be selected for the World Cup or not.” Mascherano started Tuesday’s 3-1 South American qualifying victory in Ecuador that guaranteed Argentina a place at next year’s finals in Russia. He is four caps short of equalling Inter Milan legend Javier Zanetti’s Argentina record. Mascherano joined Barcelona from Liverpool in 2010 and is under contract at the Camp Nou until 2019.