· Stocks jumped on Thursday after China said it wished to resolve its protracted trade dispute with the world’s largest economy with a “calm ” attitude.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 326.15 points higher, or 1.3% at 26,362.25. The S&P 500 gained 1.3% to close at 2,924.58 while the Nasdaq Composite advanced 1.5% to 7,973.39.
· European markets closed higher on Thursday as investors monitored developments in the U.S.-China trade war and digested comments from central bank officials.
Stocks trimmed gains slightly during the afternoon session, after European Central Bank (ECB) policymaker Klass Knot said he saw no reason for quantitative easing to be resumed in the region, according to Bloomberg. Soft inflation data had earlier reinforced expectations that the ECB will inject stimulus into the economy next month, providing an additional boost to stocks.
Although Knot’s comments briefly dented sentiment, the pan-European Stoxx 600 pared losses to end the session more than 1% higher, with all sectors and major bourses in positive territory.
· Stocks in Asia traded higher on Friday following hints from Beijing that it will not retaliate against the latest round of tariffs from Washington for now.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 rose 0.95% in early trade as shares of index heavyweight and robot maker Fanuc surged 2.28%. The Topix index also added 0.86%.
Similar gains were seen in South Korea, where the Kospi advanced 1.31% as chipmaker SK Hynix saw its stock jump 2.86%.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 traded 0.69% higher.
Overall, the MSCI Asia ex-Japan index gained 0.42%.
Investors were likely boosted by positive signals from Beijing on trade. Gao Feng, a spokesman for China’s Ministry of Commerce, said Thursday that Beijing is willing to resolve its trade fight with Washington calmly, indicating that the Chinese are more interested in negotiations than they are on retaliating.
Reference: CNBC
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