European stocks opened lower on Monday morning, after Donald Trump was hit in the ear in an attempted assassination attempt on Saturday in Pennsylvania.
The FTSE 100 index opened down 40.49 points, 0.5%, at 8,212.42. The FTSE 250 was down 88.87 points, 0.4%, at 21,114.02, and the AIM All-Share was down 1.71 points, 0.2%, at 784.46.
The Cboe UK 100 was down 0.5% at 819.66, the Cboe UK 250 was down 0.5% at 18,386.19, and the Cboe Small Companies was down 0.2% at 17,339.52.
In European equities on Monday, the CAC 40 in Paris was down 0.8%, while the DAX 40 in Frankfurt was down 0.3%.
In the US on Friday, Wall Street ended higher, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average, the S&P 500, and the Nasdaq Composite all closing up 0.6%.
Donald Trump was hit in the ear in an assassination attempt by a gunman at a campaign rally Saturday, in a chaotic and shocking incident set to supercharge political tensions ahead of the polarising US presidential election.
The 78-year-old former president was rushed off stage with blood streaked across his face after the shooting in Butler, Pennsylvania, while the shooter and a bystander were killed and two spectators critically injured.
President Joe Biden warned on Sunday of the risks of political violence in the US after Saturday’s events, saying: ‘It’s time to cool it down.’
In a prime-time national address from the Oval Office, Biden said political passions can run high but ‘we must never descend into violence’.
Biden also rejected speculation he would quit the US presidential race.
‘There’s been a lot of speculation lately. What’s Joe Biden going to do, is he going to stay in the race, is he going to drop out?’ Biden told supporters in the city of Detroit, to chants of ‘Don’t you quit!’
‘Here’s my answer: I am running and we’re going to win! I’m not going to change that,’ Biden said.
Yet, Trump’s assassination attempt has boosted his chances on winning the November election.
‘The image of strong and heroic Trump with blood on his face, fist up in the air and with an American flag waving behind him as security guards were taking him away from the scene marked the weekend – and came as a perfect contrast to old and weakened Biden since the TV debate. Cherry top, Trump said that he would attend the Republican National Convention next week,’ said Ipek Ozkardeskaya at Swissquote Bank.
‘All in all, even though the assassination incident on Trump was shocking – and spurred the worries of a deeply divided America where political violence is taking over – it boosted the chances that Trump will win the presidential election in November from 61% before the shooting to 67% after, according to PredictIt.’
In China, the Shanghai Composite was up 0.1%, while the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong was down 1.6%.
China’s economy grew 4.7% year-on-year in the second quarter of 2024, official data showed Monday, less than analysts had expected. In the first quarter, GDP increased by 5.3%.
The figures were much lower than the 5.1% anticipated by FXStreet market consensus.
The world’s second-largest economy is grappling with a real estate debt crisis, weakening consumption, an ageing population and trade tensions with Western rivals.
Top officials are meeting in Beijing on Monday for a key plenum, with all eyes on how they might kickstart lacklustre growth.
The S&P/ASX 200 in Sydney closed up 0.6%. In Japan, financial markets are closed, as the country celebrates Japan Marine Day.
The pound was quoted at $1.2971 early on Monday in London, lower compared to $1.2989 at the equities close on Friday. The euro stood at $1.0888, lower against $1.0907. Against the yen, the dollar was trading at JP¥158.02, higher compared to JP¥157.90.
In the FTSE 100, Burberry lost 11%.
Burberry said that in its first quarter, ended June 29, retail revenue fell to £458 million from £589 million a year earlier.
Looking ahead, Burberry said the slowdown in trading experienced in the first quarter continued into July. If this trend is to continue through the current quarter, the company said it will expect to report a first half operating loss and full-year operating profit to be below current consensus.
Therefore, Burberry said it has decided to suspend the payment of dividends in financial 2025.
Chair Gerry Murphy said: ‘We are taking decisive action to rebalance our offer to be more familiar to Burberry’s core customers whilst delivering relevant newness. We expect the actions we are taking, including cost savings, to start to deliver an improvement in our second half and to strengthen our competitive position and underpin long-term growth.’
In a separate announcement, Burberry named Joshua Schulman as its new chief executive, replacing Jonathan Akeroyd who is stepping down.
In the FTSE 250, Ocado fell 9.1% to the bottom of the index.
Bernstein cut Ocado’s rating to ’underperform’ from ’outperform’.
ME Group International dropped 1.4%.
The Epsom, England-based vending machine operator, formerly known as Photo-Me International, reported that revenue in the six months ended April 30 rose 4.6% to £150.4 million from £143.8 million a year earlier. Pretax profit jumped 10% to £30.0 million from £27.2 million.
ME Group upped its interim dividend by 16% to 3.45p from 2.97p.
Elsewhere, on London’s AIM, Destiny Pharma plummeted 65%.
The company said it plans to cancel its shares on AIM and re-register as a private company.
Chair Nigel Rudd commented: ‘As previously disclosed, the company has been seeking a licencing partner for the development of XF-73 Nasal through phase 3 clinical trials. However, to date a deal has not been forthcoming and given our cash runway, the board and our advisors have been evaluating a range of strategic options to access the significant quanta of funding required to progress the drug through these Phase 3 clinical trials and realise the creation of meaningful shareholder value.’
Brent oil was quoted at $84.77 a barrel early in London on Monday, down from $85.66 late Friday.
Gold was quoted at $2,406.30 an ounce, lower against $2,410.50.
Still to come on Monday’s economic calendar, there is eurozone industrial production data at 1000 BST.
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