Shares up as Trump says China trade deal is close

ALL eyes in Britain might have been on the General Election yesterday, but stock markets worldwide were buoyed by the US president’s latest musings on the trade war with China.

President Trump, with his usual aplomb on the social media site Twitter, wrote that the US was ‘getting very close to a big deal with China’.

His latest U-turn in the trade spat came days after he indicated he could wait to strike a deal until after America’s 2020 election.

But even cynical traders were relieved by the remarks and sent equity markets higher across the world. The FTSE 100 leapt in the aftermath of the mid-afternoon tweet, rising by as much as 1.2pc during trading, before ending the day up 0.8pc, or 57.22 points, at 7273.47.

US stock markets jumped, sending the S&P 500 up 0.9pc, touching a record high. The Nasdaq rose 0.7pc and the Dow Jones 0.8pc.

Germany’s Dax added 0.6pc by the close, and France’s Cac 40 0.4pc. Asia-focused stocks including Prudential (up 3.8pc, or 50.5p, to 1369p) and HSBC (up 2.6pc, or 14.8p, to 576.5p) rose on the news.

Standard Chartered rose 3.9pc, or 26.8p, to 718p, boosted by the latest on the trade war and an agreement to sell its £986m stake in Indonesia’s PT Bank Permata to Thailand’s Bangkok Bank.

The FTSE 250 also closed higher, rising 0.7pc, or 145.92 points, to finish at 20793.03.

Elsewhere, it was a rocky day for infrastructure firms Costain and

John Laing Group.

Costain more than halved its profit guidance to between £17m and £19m, down from £38m to £42m, after it was told to pay to settle a dispute about a Welsh motorway project. And John Laing slumped after the infrastructure investor said in an update the value of its investments at the end of the year will be ‘marginally’ below forecasts.

It will take a £50m hit from sterling trading at stronger levels between July and November.

Shares in John Laing fell 9.8pc, or 38.4p, to 355p, while Costain dived 18.4pc, or 35.4p, to 157.2p, after the profit warning – its second this year. Construction contractor Balfour

Beatty fared better, advancing 4.3pc, or 10p, to 240.4p after it said annual revenue will top £8bn and profits will come in ahead of expectations. It reckons its order book will stand at more than £14bn, which it described as ‘significantly higher’ than the £12.6bn it reported at the end of 2018. And engineering contractor Keller Group jumped 11.4pc, or 73p, to 712p after confirming interim chief executive Mike Speakman will take the role permanently and promising it will hand shareholders extra cash through dividends in 2019 and 2020. Aston Martin shares revved up to a five-month high after the luxury car maker revealed it has teamed up with European plane maker Airbus to design helicopters. They will unveil the aircraft on January 3 at Courchevel in the French Alps.

Aston investors were encouraged by the latest indication the struggling company is rebuilding its reputation and branching out beyond the car market, which has slumped over the past year. Shares rose 9pc, or 50.8p, to 615.2p. Private healthcare provider

Mediclinic expects full-year revenues to grow by 6.5pc in its southern Africa division, which includes its operations in Namibia and South Africa.

It will also spend more money on staff and IT as it tries to boost ‘clinical quality and patient experience’. Shares rose 2.7pc, or 10.4p, to 395.3p.

And asset management consultancy MJ Hudson rose on its first day of trading on AIM, closing at 59p, 3.5pc higher than its listing price of 57p.