· U.S. stock index futures turned sharply higher Thursday morning after China reportedly said the world’s two largest economies had agreed to cancel additional tariffs imposed in their months-long trade war.
At around 02:50 a.m. ET, Dow futures rose 154 points, indicating a positive open of more than 138 points. Futures on the S&P and Nasdaq were both higher.
· Asian shares napped near multi-month peaks on Thursday while bonds eked out a bounce as reports of delays in sealing a preliminary Sino-U.S. trade deal left investors frustrated at the lack of concrete progress.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan dipped a slight 0.2%, just off a six-month high hit earlier in the week.
Reuters reported on Wednesday a meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping to sign an interim trade deal could be delayed until December as discussions continue over terms and venue.
Among various suggestions was to sign a deal after a scheduled NATO meeting in early December.
· Japanese shares posted small gains to close at a one-year high on Thursday, although worries over possible delays in a first-phase Sino-U.S. trade deal capped gains, while Softbank Group slid on its first quarterly loss in 14 years.
The Nikkei share average ended up 0.11% at 23,330.32, its highest finish since early October last year.
The broader Topix gained 0.22% to 1,698.13, also a one-year high, with growth shares outperforming with gains of 0.38%.
· China stocks ended little changed on Thursday, as caution reigned on news that a meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping to sign an interim trade deal could be delayed.
The blue-chip CSI300 index rose 0.2%, to 3,991.87, while the Shanghai Composite Index was flat, at 2,978.71 points.
China stocks have firmed recently on hopes that Washington and Beijing will sign a "phase one" trade deal this month to pause the debilitating tariff war.
But a senior official of the Trump administration told Reuters on Wednesday that the planned meeting to sign the deal could be delayed until December as discussions continue over terms and venue. The official added it was still possible the agreement would not be reached, but a deal was more likely than not.
· European markets traded higher Thursday morning after China reportedly said the world’s two largest economies had agreed to cancel additional tariffs imposed in their months-long trade war.
The pan-European Stoxx 600 climbed 0.4% in early trade, with basic resources, autos and travel and leisure stocks all rising more than 1% as most sectors and major bourses entered positive territory. Utilities and telecoms were the main outliers, each shedding 0.6%.
Reuters reported Thursday morning that China’s commerce ministry said Washington and Beijing had over the past two weeks agreed to a phased removal of duties on billions of dollars’ worth of each other’s goods.
Commerce ministry spokesman Gao Feng reportedly added that the cancellation would be important for the two sides to reach a “phase one” trade deal.
Reference: Reuters, CNBC
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