· Asian stocks climbed to their highest in six weeks on Friday, as signs of progress in U.S.-China trade talks and aggressive stimulus from the European Central Bank helped to calm fears of a global economic slowdown.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan edged up 0.5% to their highest since Aug. 1, while Japan’s Nikkei rose more than 1.0% to four-month highs. Markets in mainland China and South Korea were closed for public holidays.
· Japan’s Nikkei share average rose to a fresh four month-high on Friday, as signs of thawing in U.S.-China trade tensions and the European Central Bank policy easing tempered worries about a global economic slowdown.
The benchmark Nikkei advanced 1.1% to 21,988.29, marking its highest close since May 7. For the week, the index advanced 3.7%, to post its biggest gain in eight months.
The broader Topix rose 0.9% to 1,609.87, its highest closing since April 26, with turnover on Tokyo’s main board stood at 3.34 trillion yen, the heaviest in nearly nine months.
· European stocks stalled on Friday morning after the European Central Bank (ECB) delivered an aggressive stimulus package in a bid to reinvigorate the ailing euro zone economy.
The pan-European Stoxx 600 hovered around the flatline in early trade, banks emerging as the best performing sector with 1% gains while food and beverage stocks dropped 0.9%.
The ECB announced a new quantitative easing program Thursday which will see 20 billion euros ($21.9 billion) per month of net asset purchases for as long as the central bank deems necessary. It also cut the rate on its main deposit facility by 10 basis points to -0.5%, a new record low, and introduced tiering measures to mitigate damage to banks’ balance sheets.
· Stocks on Wall Street climbed higher this week due in part to increased hopes for a U.S.-China trade war resolution — but Blackstone’s Joseph Zidle warned that investors might be too optimistic.
Zidle, chief investment strategist at the asset management firm, said the trade war will likely drag on much longer than what investors are currently expecting. That means the impact on the economy and financial markets could be “bigger than most people think,” he said on Friday.
Reference: Reuter, CNBC
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