Positive end to the week for Global Markets

Over the past 24 hours investors have drawn some encouragement from US President Donald Trump posting on Twitter that he had “a long and very good conversation” with his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping. The advance in Chinese equities, which were up almost 4% in late trading in Asia.

Hong Kong stocks were among the biggest beneficiaries on Friday, with the Hang Seng jumping 4% in a gain that puts it on course for its best week since April 2015. Tencent, the biggest company on the index, rose 8%.

European stocks also joined the positive momentum of Asian markets. The Stoxx 600, a benchmark for the region, gained just over 1% in morning trading on Friday, putting it on course for its best week since early 2016. Germany’s Dax, France’s CAC 40 and the FTSE 100 were all up about 1%t. An index of European carmakers, one of the sector’s most sensitive to trade tensions, jumped 2.6 per cent.

While global equity markets have staged a robust start to November, recent days have also offered investors reminders of the risks of an escalation in the US-China trade war. A snapshot of US manufacturing in October showed that companies were anxious that more tariffs would send their costs higher, while figures showed that Eurozone third-quarter growth slowed to its weakest pace since 2014.

Oil headed for the biggest weekly loss since February as the U.S. softened its crackdown on Iranian exports and American supplies surged, assuaging fears of an impending shortage.

Futures have lost 6% in New York this week. The U.S. has agreed to let eight countries — including Japan, India and South Korea — keep buying Iranian oil after it reimposes sanctions this weekend to prevent a spike in prices, a senior administration official said.

This article was compiled by BOV Asset Management Limited, a member of the BOV Group. BOV Asset Management,TG Complex, Suite 2, Level 3, Brewery Str., Mriehel BKR 3000. Email: infoassetmanagement@bov.com Internet address: www.bovassetmanagement.com. BOV Asset Management is licensed by the MFSA.