U.S. S&P500 mini futures ESc1 traded down 0.1%, with a big part of early losses cut after the New York Times reported Washington will soon issue licenses allowing some U.S. firms to supply non-sensitive goods to China’s Huawei Technologies.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS gained 0.24% while Japan's Nikkei .N225 rose 0.34%. Shanghai shares .SSEC also rose 0.49%.
· Japanese stocks bounced back from early losses to end higher on Thursday, helped by a flush of optimism over chances that the United States and China can scale back their trade war at high-level talks set for later in the day.
The Nikkei index ended up 0.45% at 21,551.98, after shedding as much as 0.7% earlier in the day.
Japanese shares were boosted by a New York Times report that U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration will soon issue licences allowing some U.S. companies to supply non-sensitive goods to Chinese telecommunications equipment maker Huawei Technologies Co Ltd.
· China’s stocks climbed to a two-week high on Thursday as investors hoped for a partial trade deal between Washington and Beijing, but a report stating Chinese officials are looking to cut short their visit to the U.S. capped gains.
The Shanghai Composite index closed up 0.8% at 2,947.71 points, its highest level since September 26. The blue-chip CSI300 index also gained 0.8% on Thursday.
The pan-European Stoxx 600 reversed slight early gains to fall 0.5%, with basic resources rising 0.4% to lead gains while healthcare stocks slid 1.1%.
Reference: Reuters, CNBC, Daily FX