STOCKS SUSTAIN RALLY

MARKETS, OIL GAIN AS OPTIMISM ABOUT US-CHINA TRADE TALKS GROWS

dubai — Barring the Gulf, equity and oil markets across the globe gained on Tuesday on growing optimism about the USChina trade talks.

In Asia and Europe, most of the stock market rose as optimism grew over Washington’s trade talks with Beijing. Wall Street made a very positive start, jumping one per cent at the opening on Tuesday evening on hopes that the two countries would strike a deal to end their months-long trade war that has battered financial markets.

About 10 minutes into trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 1.2 per cent at 23,801. The S&P 500 gained 1 per cent to 2,575, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index advanced 1.1 per cent to 6,899.

In Europe, Germany’s DAX rose 0.8 per cent while London’s FTSE-100 index advanced 1.1 per cent and France’s CAC-40 was 1.5 per cent higher at 4,785 points.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 index gained 0.8 per cent to 20,204.04 and the Hang Seng in Hong Kong added 0.2 per cent to 25,875.45. Australia’s S&P ASX 200 gained 0.7 per cent to 5,722.40 but the South Korean Kospi gave up 0.5 per cent to 2,026.23.

Small steps towards a resolution are all what’s needed to support investors’ confidence

Hussein Sayed, Chief market strategist at FXTM

Oil prices have been an indicator, especially for GCC markets and their respective federal budgets

Isaam Kassabieh, Senior financial analyst at Menacorp