Time to wrap up….
Investor confidence in the EU has fallen sharply after Donald Trump’s trade agreement with Brussels, amid mounting concern about the economic hit from the US president’s tariff war.
The latest snapshot from the Sentix index showed that investor sentiment fell significantly at the start of the month after the deal last week between Trump and the European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen.
The data provider said its weekly survey of thousands of investors in more than 20 countries showed that the pact was a “deal that dampens the mood”, with Trump and the US viewed as “winners” at the expense of the eurozone.
“The result is devastating for the eurozone,” said Manfred Hübner, the managing director of the Sentix economic index.
“The current situation and expectations are both declining. The wrinkles of concern in the economy are deepening again.”
Switzerland, which was hit with a 39% tariff by Trump, is now indicating it might make the US a better offer. Shares on the Swiss stock market dropped this morning, as traders reacted to the prospect of high levies at the US border.
Tesla’s board has approved the award of $30bn (£23bn) worth of shares to its chief executive, Elon Musk, after a US court ruled against a previous pay deal for the world’s richest person.
Musk will pay $2bn to buy 96m shares in the electric carmaker at the same price as the 10-year pay package agreed in 2018, which is stuck in legal limbo awaiting a court date for an appeal. The award was based on a recommendation from a “special committee” of the board.
The announcement in a financial filing was accompanied by a shareholder letter from two members of the committee, Tesla’s chair, Robyn Denholm, and Kathleen Wilson-Thompson.
It described the award as a “good faith” payment to Musk after the previous pay deal, worth $56bn, was rescinded in 2024 by a judge in Delaware, where the company was incorporated until June that year.
Shares in UK lenders surged on Monday after a favourable supreme court ruling significantly slashed the anticipated bill for companies engulfed in the car finance scandal.
The specialist lender Close Brothers, which is the most exposed to the scandal, jumped as much as 27% at the start of trading, and are still up 22%.
The UK’s biggest motor loan provider, Lloyds Banking Group, are now up 8%. Shares in Barclays, which no longer provides car finance but is dealing with the fallout for the remaining loans on its books, rose by 1.1%. Shares in FirstRand, one of the lenders involved in the supreme court case, jumped by 4.8%.
More tariff news: the European Union will suspend its two packages of countermeasures to U.S. tariffs for six months following the deal agreed with U.S. President Donald Trump.
A comission spokesperson explains:
“The EU continues to work with the U.S. to finalise a Joint Statement, as agreed on 27 July.
“With these objectives in mind, the Commission will take the necessary steps to suspend by 6 months the EU’s countermeasures against the US, which were due to enter into force on 7 August.”
The EU had threatened to impose nearly €100bn (£87bn) worth of tariffs on US imports ranging from bourbon to Boeing aircraft in one fell swoop if a trade deal wasn’t reached….
