Stocks up on soft Brexit reports

tokyo — Global stock markets mostly rose on Monday as the British government appeared to turn towards a more trade-friendly version of Brexit and as investors monitored the escalating trade standoff between the US and China.

France’s CAC 40 rose 0.5 per cent to 5,402, while Germany’s DAX added 0.2 per cent to 12,520. Britain’s FTSE 100 was also higher at 7,646, up 0.4 per cent.

US shares were also set for gains, with Dow futures up 0.5 per cent and S&P 500 futures gaining 0.4 per cent.

A cabinet meeting held Friday by Prime Minister Theresa May yielded a Brexit plan that favours closer trade ties with the European Union. The plan would create a partial free trade zone, though it would mean Britain would adopt some EU rules and standards.

Pro-Brexit politicians in her Conservative party have resisted such a compromise and the head of the Brexit negotiations resigned overnight Sunday. The prospect of the softer approach to Brexit saw British stocks rise and the pound gain 0.4 per cent to $1.3334.

There were few developments over the weekend after Washington put a 25 per cent tax on $34 billion worth of Chinese imports Friday and Beijing retaliated with taxes on an equal amount of US products, including soybeans, pork and electric cars. The full impact of the measures may not be felt for some time, and there was little immediate reaction from investors who have known for weeks that the tariffs were due to take effect.

“The absence of further escalation as of yet offers Asian equity markets a further reprieve with upsides expected at the start of the week, though one would reckon the playoffs for the rest of the week remain dependent on the developments of the US-China trade tensions,” said Jingyi Pan, a market strategist at IG in Singapore.

Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi Corp.’s shares slipped and

The absence of further escalation as of yet offers Asian equity markets a further reprieve XJingyi Pan, Market Strategist, IG

then rebounded Monday in its trading debut in Hong Kong following a multibillion-dollar initial public offering. Trading opened at 16.60 Hong Kong dollars, below Xiaomi’s offering price of 17 Hong Kong dollars. It fell about 4 per cent in early trading but ended higher at 16.80 Hong Kong dollars ($1.98).

Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 added 1.2 per cent to finish at 22,052.18. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 edged up 0.2 per cent to 6,286.00, while South Korea’s Kospi gained 0.6 per cent to 2,285.80. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 1.3 per cent to 28,688.50, while the Shanghai Composite index jumped 2.5 per cent to 2,815.11. Shares were higher in Taiwan and Southeast Asia.

Benchmark US crude slipped 18 cents to $73.62 a barrel. It gained 86 cents to settle at $73.80 per barrel in New York late Friday. Brent crude, used to price international oils, added 65 cents to $77.76 per barrel.

The dollar fell slightly to 110.43 yen from 110.61 yen late Friday in Asia. The euro strengthened to $1.1770 from $1.1746.

Meanwhile the broader Nifty50 of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) provisionally closed at 10,852.90 points (3.30pm) — higher by 80.25 points or 0.74 per cent — from its previous close of 10,772.65 points.

The barometer 30-scrip Sensex on the BSE, which had opened at 35,835.10 points, closed at 35,934.72 points — up by 276.86 points or 0.78 per cent — from its previous session’s close of 35,657.86 points. Sensex touched a high of 35,977.37 points and a low of 35,779.72 points during the intra-day trade.

The BSE market breadth was bullish with 1,707 advances against 910 declines.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Vedanta, Asian Paints, Yes Bank, Sun Pharma and Reliance Industries whereas Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), HDFC, IndusInd Bank, Bharti Airtel and Coal India were the major losers. On the NSE, Vedanta, Yes Bank and Asian Paints were the highest gainers while Ultratech Cement, TCS and Titan lost the most. — IANS, AP