Asian shares post modest gains ahead of trade talks
TOKYO— Asian shares made moderate gains early Friday after U.S. stocks jumped on news China is preparing to resume trade discussions with the U.S., the first negotiations in more than a month.
KEEPING SCORE:
Japan’s Nikkei 225 index added 0.4 percent to 22,270.38, while the Shanghai Composite index slipped 0.46 percent to 2,687.86. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng gained 0.2 percent to 27,150.11 and in South Korea, the Kospi gained 0.3 percent to 2,247.05. Australia’s S&P ASX 200 picked up 0.2 percent to 6,339.20. Shares were higher in Taiwan, Thailand and Singapore but fell in Malaysia.
Energy and metals prices and shares of industrial companies turned higher. The S&P 500 index climbed 0.8 percent to 2,840.69. The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 1.6 percent to 25,558.73 as Walmart and Boeing made big gains. The Nasdaq composite rose 0.4 percent to 7,806.52 and the Russell 2000 index of smaller-company stocks added 0.9 percent to 1,685.75.
China will send a trade envoy
WALL STREET:
CHINATRADE:
to Washington later this month in a fresh attempt to end the trade dispute before it causes major damage to the global economy. The two sides haven’t talked since early June. After the latest round of talks failed to produce much progress, both countries put taxes on $34 billion in each other’s imports. Those tariffs are set to rise next week, and both countries have threatened even larger increases as early as September.
QUOTABLE:
“It’s hard to get too excited about the ‘low level’ trade talks taking place next week,” Chris Weston of IG said in a commentary. He said investors should ask “whether we are really going to get a breakthrough in the trade tensions from these players?”
ENERGY: U.S.
crude lost 7 cents to $65.39 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It gained 0.7 percent to settle at $65.46 a barrel in New York. Brent crude, the standard for international oil prices, lost 8 cents to $71.35 per barrel.
CURRENCIES:
The dollar fell to 110.77 yen from 110.89 yen. The euro rose to $1.1389 from $1.1379.