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| - London stocks sank on Friday after US President Donald Trump lashed out at China over the coronavirus crisis, bringing back bad memories of a damaging standoff between both countries over trade. Other key European markets were shut for a bank holiday. On Wall Street, where it was business as usual on May Day, the Dow Jones index also opened in the red over new US-China tensions. Investor nerves were tested further by a weak bottom line for Amazon even after the retail giant's revenues received a boost from online shopping under lockdown. "Global markets continue to languish in what Amazon highlighted, is that top-line growth is not translating into profit growth," said Stephen Innes, chief global market strategist at AxiCorp. Fellow tech giant Apple, reporting quarterly results, painted a similar picture of rising revenues but slipping profits. Investors the world over were spooked by comments from Trump indicating he could hit China with additional tariffs over its handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, claiming he had seen evidence linking a Wuhan lab to the contagion. "Trump sharpening his rhetoric against China is unnerving investors, as his team look into retaliatory measures over the coronavirus outbreak," said City Index analyst Fiona Cincotta. "The China trade war seems like an eternity ago after coronavirus has dominated market movements with such intensity over recent weeks. "However, threats of more tariffs from Trump have hit a nerve with the markets and is adding to the downbeat sentiment heading into the weekend," she added. Investors in Britain took their cue from earlier losses in Tokyo and Sydney in Asia, where most bourses were also closed. The British capital's FTSE 100 index had already tanked Thursday on mounting evidence that COVID was slamming the global economy and investors "reacted to some stinky data from Europe and the US", in the words of Markets.com analyst Neil Wilson. Sentiment was also hit after Spain said Friday that its gross domestic product (GDP) was projected to fall by 9.2 percent in 2020 as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, while the unemployment rate would reach 19 percent. The gloomy forecast compared with two percent growth recorded last year. However, the Spanish stock market remains shut for the long weekend. In Asia and the Pacific, Japanese and Australian stocks tumbled Friday, with traders tracking Thursday's sell-off on Wall Street, and Tokyo was down nearly three percent at the close. The sell-off comes at the end of an otherwise bright week for equities fuelled by signs that coronavirus infections and deaths are easing around the world while governments begin easing lockdown restrictions that have strangled their economies. Oil prices rose as the latest production cut agreement between OPEC and others went into force. There was also some support from Norway, western Europe's biggest oil producer, saying Wednesday it will cut oil production to the end of the year to help stabilise slumping prices hit by a supply glut and a collapse in demand sparked by the coronavirus pandemic. London - FTSE 100: DOWN 1.7 percent at 5,798.72 points New York - Dow: DOWN 1.6 percent at 23,953.40 Tokyo - Nikkei 225: DOWN 2.8 percent at 19,619.35 (close) Frankfurt - DAX 30: DOWN 2.2 percent at 10,861.64 (Thursday's close) Paris - CAC 40: DOWN 2.1 percent at 4,572.18 (Thursday's close) EURO STOXX 50: DOWN 2.6 percent at 2,917.40 (late Thursday) Shanghai - Composite: UP 1.3 percent at 2,860.08 (close on Thursday) Hong Kong - Hang Seng: UP 0.3 percent at 24,643.59 (close on Wednesday) Brent North Sea crude: UP 1.3 percent at $26.82 per barrel West Texas Intermediate: UP 6.3 percent at $20.03 per barrel Euro/dollar: UP at $1.0978 from $1.0955 at 2100 GMT Dollar/yen: DOWN at 106.74 yen from 107.18 Pound/dollar: DOWN at $1.2519 from $1.2594 Euro/pound: UP at 87.69 pence from 86.99 pence burs-jh/wai
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