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...
Antonio Conte’s Chelsea turned the Premier League title race into a procession in his first season, but worrying cracks are appearing that threaten to fatally undermine the current campaign. The Stamford Bridge club accrued 93 points — the second-highest tally in the Premier League era — to finish seven points clear of nearest challengers Tottenham Hotspur and a whopping 15 ahead of Manchester City in 2016-2017. But this term they are nine points adrift of pacesetters Manchester City, with three defeats already — the same as they suffered in the whole of last season. Now the 2012 European champions are licking their wounds after an embarrassing 3-0 Champions League pummelling by Roma. So what’s gone wrong? Lack of signings Spain striker Alvaro Morata was Chelsea’s marquee signing in the summer transfer window, joining alongside midfielders Tiemoue Bakayoko and Danny Drinkwater and defenders Antonio Rudiger and Davide Zappacosta. But moves for several targets fail...