STOCKS END Q1 ON HIGH NOTE
GLOBAL MARKETS CLIMB ON US-CHINA TRADE TALKS, IMPROVING RISK SENTIMENT
new york — Stock markets around the world moved higher on Friday following signs of progress in US-China trade talks, while improved risk sentiment helped lift benchmark US yields as demand decreased for safehaven bonds.
MSCI’s gauge of stocks across the globe gained 0.44 per cent and was on pace to rise more than 11 per cent for the quarter.
US officials held “constructive” talks in Beijing, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said, concluding the latest round of dialogue with China aimed at resolving the trade dispute between the world’s two largest economies.
US data on Friday showed price pressures muted in January, with a measure of overall inflation posting its smallest annual increase in nearly 2-1/2 years.
The “benign” inflation data is positive for stocks because it sets the stage for keeping the Federal Reserve “on hold” when it comes to interest rate policy, said Michael Arone, chief investment strategist at State Street Global Advisors in Boston.
On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 119.22 points, or 0.46 per cent, to 25,836.68, the S&P 500 gained 9.93 points, or 0.35 per cent, to 2,825.37 and the Nasdaq Composite added 40.15 points, or 0.52 percent, to 7,709.31.
US Treasury yields rose as risk sentiment improved, though prices briefly gave up some losses after data showed that US consumer spending rebounded less than expected in January. Benchmark 10-year notes last fell 7/32 in price to yield 2.4139 per cent, from 2.389 percent late on Thursday.
Investors’ eyes will be glued to news feeds looking for any more details — rumoured or true — emerging from the talks Jeffrey Halley, Senior market analyst at Oanda
Anything that’s moving in the pro-trade directions is going to have a positive impact on European macros Bert Colijn, Economist at ING
Mainland Chinese markets led stocks higher in Asia, with the Shanghai Composite jumping 3.2 per cent to 3,090.76 as the US and China kicked off a fresh round of trade talks in Beijing.
Britain’s FTSE 100 gained 0.3 per cent to 7,257, while France’s CAC 40 rose 0.8 per cent to 5,340. The DAX in Germany climbed 0.9 per cent to 11,529.
Investor sentiment also was lifted by US-China trade talks that resumed in Beijing. They aim to put to rest a dispute between the world’s two biggest economies over technology and other issues.
The European labour market is robust, and the gains in personal income are boosting retail sales, said Bert Colijn an economist at ING. “Anything that’s moving in the pro-trade directions is going to
have a positive impact on European macros,” Colijn said.
“Investors’ eyes will be glued to news feeds looking for any more details — rumoured or true — emerging from the talks. This could cause some abrupt intra-day volatility across the markets,” Jeffrey Halley, a senior market analyst at Oanda said in a market commentary.
Elsewhere in Asia, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng jumped 1 per cent to 29,051.36 and South Korea’s Kospi gained 0.6 per cent to 2,140.67.
Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 rose 0.8 per cent to 21,205.81. The country’s retail sales fell slightly in February from a month earlier, preliminary data showed. But industrial production rose, and its unemployment rate for February beat market expectation.
The 30-share Sensex rose 127.19 points, or 0.33 per cent to reach 38,672.91 in Mumbai. The 50-share NSE Nifty closed at 11,623.90, higher by 53.90 points, or 0.47 per cent.