Here’s what’s moving markets Monday

Global equity markets are lower as we enter the last week of the quarter, as investors digest a weekend worth of US trade policy rumours and tweets, the prospect of auto tariffs and lower oil prices.

The US has until the end of the week to finalise the list of Chinese tariffs and confirm the investment restrictions that will apply to Chinese businesses, and fears are rising that we are now reaching the point of no return in a global trade war.

The People's Bank of China has cut its required reserve ratio for banks, freeing up money that the banks can lend in an attempt to stimulate the market and mitigate the effects of the technology and trade dispute between it and the US.

This quantitative easing is a clear demonstration that China will do whatever they have to in order to protect their market from the present dangers.

However, the size of the cut left some investors disappointed and Chinese markets fell slightly, but there is no doubt that Chinese policymakers stand ready to step in should the situation deteriorate any further.

Source: interactive investor           Past performance is not a guide to future performance

A very confused OPEC meeting left investors with a high degree of ambiguity on Friday, resulting in a huge rise in oil prices as the market concluded that supply would increase by less than had been anticipated.

However, after overshooting on Friday, oil prices have fallen today after OPEC confirmed that they would make up any deficit going forward in the event of unplanned disruptions that might cause output to fall below agreed levels for the group as a whole.