UK retail sales drop; trade war fears hit Chinese markets – business live

All the day’s economic and financial news, as UK shoppers tighten their belts and cut back on food

Earlier:

Just in: America’s labour market remains remarkably strong, as companies shake off any trade war worries.

The number of US citizens filing new claims for unemployment benefit fell last week, new data show, to just 210,000.

(USD) Initial Jobless Claims (OCT 13),
Actual: 210k
Expected: 211k
Previous: 215k https://t.co/F0epTenDMe

Overnight, the US found a new way to hurt Chinese companies.

The White House said it was pulling out of a United Nations treaty that offered low rates for foreign postal deliveries of small packages in the US. That could make it much pricier for Chinese firms to send goods to America.

Fragile doesn’t describe just how delicate Asia investor sentiment is as any sliver of optimism from US earnings gave way to that reality that trade tension and geopolitical unrest continues to gurgle…

To make matters worse, President Trump has found in the US postal service, a way to cripple China e-commerce which sent mainland equities into the tank.

Related: Trump pulls US out of UN postal scheme on China price concerns

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