Asian stocks rise as Sino-US trade hopes boost sentiment

TOKYO: Asian stocks advanced yesterday as sentiment improved on a report that US-China trade talks were making progress and after UK lawmakers voted to delay a potentially chaotic exit from the European Union.

Spreadbetters expected a higher open for European stocks, with Britain’s FTSE gaining 0.2 per cent and Germany’s DAX and France’s CAC each adding 0.15 per cent.

ChineseVicePremierLiuHespoke by telephone with US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, with the two sides making further substantive progress on trade talks, Xinhua news agency said on Friday.

Yet, the prospect of the trade talks taking longer than expected tempered the cheer, and there was still no clarity on how close the two economic powers are on reaching an agreement.

Mnuchin said on Thursday that a summit to seal a trade deal between US President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping will not happen at the end of March as previously discussed because more work is needed in negotiations.

MSCI broadest index of AsiaPacific shares outside Japan gained 0.55 per cent.

The Shanghai Composite Index added 0.7 per cent and Japan’s Nikkei climbed 0.8 per cent.

South Korea’s KOSPI was up 0.6 per cent. The index had risen as much as 1.2 per cent but gave up some gains following reports that North Korea is considering suspending nuclear talks with the United States.

Global markets drew some relief overnight with European stocks rising to a five-month high, boosted by strength in the banking sector after Britain’s parliament voted to reject a disorderly Brexit. — Reuters

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang attends a news conference following the closing session of the National People’s Congress (NPC) at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China. Li told reporters that the government is hoping to create 13 million jobs this year, the same as last year. — Reuters photo