Working out the way ahead

Autumn started with a flurry of events that conspired to sour the moods of investors, effectively putting a brake on the buying of shares. The first unwelcome news to spook stock holders was the sharp rise in oil prices as a result of the attack on Saudi Arabian oil refineries. The impact of this, however, turned out to be short-lived, unlike the gloom induced by the prolonged US-China trade spat. This issue has been effectively blocking any rises on the US and Asian stock exchanges (where the indexes have not shifted by more than 2 pct since mid-September), despite the continuing rude health of the world’s largest economy. The noises coming out of Washington in recent weeks have gone beyond simply plans to impose further tariffs on goods, and now extend to barring American funds from investing in Chinese companies, which has left its imprint on the prices of such stock exchange giants as Alibaba. In mid-October the tension eased slightly after another round of talks, which ende