The pan-European Stoxx 600 traded fractionally above the flatline after the opening bell, tech stocks climbing 0.5% while basic resources stocks tumbled 1.1% in early deals.
Market focus is largely attuned to global central banks, amid expectations that the ECB and the Federal Reserve could soon cut interest rates.
· Asian shares on Wednesday gave a guarded welcome to hints of progress in the Sino-U.S. trade saga, while the dollar hit two-month highs on the euro as investors wagered on a dovish outcome from the European Central Bank’s coming policy meeting.
Sentiment had been helped by a Bloomberg report that U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer would travel to Shanghai next week for meetings with Chinese officials.
White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow on Tuesday called it a good sign and said he expected Beijing to start buying U.S. agriculture products soon.
Japan’s Nikkei added 0.5%, while Australian stocks rose 0.8% to 12-year highs.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan gained 0.4% and Chinese blue chips climbed 1.2%.
· Japanese shares rose to 2-1/2-week highs on Wednesday after a news report that U.S. and Chinese trade negotiators will meet in Shanghai next week prompted investors to buy back cyclical plays, such as autos, shippers and machinery makers.
The Nikkei share average rose 0.4% to 21,709.57, its highest close since July 5, while the broader Topix gained 0.4% to 1,575.09.
Bloomberg reported that U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and senior U.S. officials will travel to Shanghai on Monday for talks with Chinese officials.
· China stocks gained on Wednesday, lifted by reports of progress in Sino-U.S. trade negotiations, while excitement towards Shanghai’s Nasdaq-style tech board cooled down a bit on the third day of trading.
The blue-chip CSI300 index rose 0.8%, to 3,819.83, while the Shanghai Composite Index also gained 0.8%, to 2,923.28.
Investors are also awaiting policy decisions from the U.S. Federal Reserve, which is widely expected to cut interest rates later this month. China’s central bank governor Yi Gang said the country’s current interest rate level is appropriate, the financial magazine Caixin reported on Tuesday.
Reference: CNBC, Reuters
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