Markets higher amid trade deal optimism

The Dow Jones index hit a record high yesterday as hopes over the future of trade relations between the US and China pushed up global markets, including the FTSE 100.

Investors expecting that a trade deal, or at least the first step towards one, could be signed shortly, pushed the Dow Jones to beat its record, France’s Cac to hit a 12-year high and the Dax to levels not seen since the middle of 2018.

“US commerce secretary Wilbur Ross, though not part of the actual negotiating team, lit a fire under the markets with his optimistic comments regarding the likelihood of Presidents Trump and Xi putting pen to paper in the coming weeks,” said Connor Campbell, an analyst at SpreadEx.

London’s FTSE 100 was dragged higher by its miners, even Antofagasta, which warned that it would lose 10,000 tonnes of copper production from protests in Chile, which shut down roads to its mines.

The blue-chip index closed up 67.27 points to 7,369.69.

The pound was down against the dollar by 0.18% to 1.2907, against the euro it rose 0.06% to 1.1586.

Oil prices were also buoyed by hopes of a trade deal, with Brent crude up 1.7% to 62.74 dollars.

The biggest risers on the FTSE 100 were NMC Healthcare, up 126p to 2,351.00p, Glencore, up 11.25p to 252.20p, Smurfit Kappa, up 122p to 2,758.00p, Rio Tinto, up 126p to 4,294.00p, and Kingfisher, up 6.2 to 215.30p. The biggest fallers were Flutter Ent, down 278p to 7,932.00p, Hiscox, down 35p to 1,440.00p, Land Securities, down 18.2p to 914.00p, JD Sports, down 11.8p to 758.20p, and British Land, down 8.8p to 602.80p.