Closing post
Time for a recap…
-
Apple has pledged to spend $500bn in US investments in the next four years, including a giant factory in Texas for artificial intelligence servers.
The plan will add around 20,000 research and development jobs across the country, with CEO Tim Cook saying Apple is “bullish on the future of American innovation”.
Donald Trump welcomed the move, saying Apple was making the investment because of “faith in what we are doing”.
But stocks fell on Wall Street, on concerns that the US economy may be slowing as Trump’s threatened tariffs hit confidence.
Shares had earlier rallied in Germany, as investors reacted to the news that the conservative CDU/CSU party had won last weekend’s election. A grand coalition with the centre-left SPD, keeping the far-right AfD out of power, seems likely.
There was also a flurry of takeover excitement in the City, with oil exploration/engineering firm John Wood confirming it had received an approach from the UAE’s Sidara.
Sky News reported that UK defence firm Chemring had recently received an approach from Bain Capital.
Many European markets have been dragged lower by today’s losses on Wall Street.
In London, the FTSE 100 index is now down 0.33%, while France’s CAC index is down 0.9%.
Germany’s earlier rally has been somewhat snuffed out, with the DAX index now only up 0.2%.
