Global stocks gain on Xi, Trump remarks, upbeat economic data
European shares log best day in three weeks
NEW YORK, Nov 23, (RTRS): The dollar gained and global equity markets rose on Friday on upbeat US economic data while amicable messages from Chinese President Xi Jinping and US President Donald Trump helped defuse tensions over the prolonged US-Sino trade war.
Government bond yields mostly rose as US manufacturing output accelerated in November to its fastest pace in seven months and a survey of purchasing managers showed services activity also picked up more than expected.
Equity markets warmed to China’s renewed offer to reach a trade agreement with the United States. Xi said China wants to work out an initial pact and avoid a trade war.
Trump reciprocated, saying a trade deal with China is “potentially very close” and also that he stands with both the people of Hong Kong and Xi amid massive protests in the former British colony.
MSCI’s gauge of stocks across the globe inched up 0.16%, with the panEuropean STOXX 600 index closing up 0.44%.
On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 109.33 points, or 0.39%, to 27,875.62. The S&P 500 gained 6.75 points, or 0.22%, to 3,110.29 and the Nasdaq Composite added 13.67 points, or 0.16%, to 8,519.89.
A 6.14% slump in shares of Tesla Inc weighed on Nasdaq as its electric pickup truck design received an underwhelming response.
US
Wall Street rose on Friday with help from positive comments from Washington and Beijing about progress on efforts to reach a US-China trade deal ,and from upbeat domestic economic data.
US President Donald Trump told Fox News a trade deal was “potentially very close” following remarks by President Xi Jinping that Beijing wanted to work out an initial agreement.
The S&P 500 and the Dow were on track for their biggest daily gains in a lackluster week marked by uncertainty about trade. In previous days, one report suggested the delay of a trade truce to 2020, while US lawmakers backed two bills backing protesters in Hong Kong.
But investors were also showing skepticism as the Hong Kong situation added complexity, he said.
Meanwhile, the latest economic data underscored a resilient domestic economy as US manufacturing output accelerated in November to its fastest pace in seven months and services activity picked up more than expected.
But the benchmark S&P 500 index was on course to snap its six-week winning streak, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq is set for its first weekly drop in eight weeks. A largely better-than-expected third-quarter corporate earnings season has also contributed to the recent rally.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 119.98 points, or 0.43%, to
27,886.27, the S&P 500 gained 6.03 points, or 0.19%, to 3,109.57 and the Nasdaq Composite added 4.11 points, or 0.05%, to 8,510.32.
Eight of the 11 major S&P 500 sectors were trading higher, led by a 0.68% gain in financials.
Intuit Inc dropped 5.7% after the income-tax filing software maker forecast second-quarter profit below estimates.
Advancing issues outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by a 1.69-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 1.47-to-1 ratio favored advancers.
The S&P 500 posted 17 new 52-week highs and 2 new lows; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 49 new highs and 73 new lows.
UK
London’s FTSE 100 surged more than 1% on Friday after two days of selling, as investors turned cautiously optimistic about a Sino-US trade deal and exporter stocks rose after the pound weakened on downbeat UK Purchasing Managers’ Indexes (PMI) data.
The main index was powered on its best day since late July by trade-sensitive scrips including HSBC and miners and further bolstered by internationally-exposed
firms such as Unilever and Diageo.
The FTSE 250 added 0.6%, though gains were capped by data that showed British business this month suffered its deepest downturn since mid-2016 amid uncertainty around the general election and Brexit.
Further keeping gains in check was a 9% slide in Hochschild Mining after its 2020 output targets disappointed, and an 8% drop in thread manufacturer Coats Group after it warned on annual profit.
Hochschild shares endured their worst day since Aug 2017, while Coats’ shares hit their lowest level in two-and-a-half years.
Despite this, the mid-caps enjoyed their fourth straight week of gains, buoyed in recent sessions by polls that point to a likely Conservative Party victory in the Dec 12 election.
Furthermore, comments by President Xi Jinping that Beijing wanted to work out an initial trade pact with Washington and a softer pound helped the FTSE handily outperform the broader European benchmark.
Shares in AstraZeneca advanced as much as 2.8% after the drugmaker won earlier-than-expected US regulatory approval for a leukaemia drug.
Europe
European shares logged their best day in three weeks on Friday, as upbeat data out of major eurozone economies, as well as positive rhetoric on a US-China trade deal, ended a dour week on a positive note.
The trade sensitive European miners jumped nearly 2%, erasing nearly all losses from earlier this week. All but one of the European sub-sectors ended higher.
US President Donald Trump said a trade deal with China is “potentially very close”. Beijing had said earlier it wanted to work out an initial agreement with Washington, following reports that a truce could be delayed to 2020.
The pan-European STOXX 600 index ended 0.4% higher but still snapped a six-week winning streak as recent mixed signals on trade clouded the sentiment.
Sterling’s losses helped London’s exporter-heavy FTSE 100 post its best day in nearly four months.
Among stocks, Italian broadcaster Mediaset rose more than 2% after sources told Reuters that French media group Vivendi is prepared to sell part of its stake in the firm at a loss in an attempt to reach a deal to end years of bitter legal disputes.