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...
Chelsea’s failure to qualify for next season’s Champions League was confirmed as they completed a disappointing Premier League campaign by collapsing to a dismal 3-0 defeat at Newcastle United on Sunday. In what is widely expected to be Chelsea manager Antonio Conte’s final league game in charge, Ayoze Perez scored twice after Dwight Gayle’s opener, and the below-par Blues had to settle for finishing fifth. That condemns them to a place in the less prestigious Europa League next season. Victory at St James’ Park allied to a final-day defeat for Liverpool would have seen Chelsea snatch fourth, and while they failed in their task, it was rendered academic as Jurgen Klopp’s Champions League finalists ran out comfortable winners against Brighton. Conte’s side still have the incentive of silverware to play for when they face Manchester United in the FA Cup final next Saturday. But they go into that game with a continuing question mark over their Italian coach followin...