· Wall Street’s main indexes hit record highs on Thursday following news that the United States had reached a “deal in principle” with China to resolve a trade war that has rattled markets for nearly two years.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI rose 220.75 points, or 0.79%, to 28,132.05, the S&P 500 .SPX gained 26.94 points, or 0.86%, to 3,168.57, and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC added 63.27 points, or 0.73%, to8,717.32.
Stocks were boosted in the morning when President Donald Trump tweeted that the United States was close to a deal ahead of Sunday, when a new round of tariffs on Chinese goods has been set to go into effect. Later in the day, reports emerged that the two countries had reached a deal in principle.
Wall Street has focused on the new round of tariffs, hopeful they would at least be delayed as the world’s two largest economies make progress on an initial trade deal.
· European equities recovered in afternoon trade Thursday after President Donald trump tweeted that the U.S. was “getting very close to a trade deal with China.”
Earlier Thursday, stocks had recorded minimal losses after the European Central Bank (ECB) kept its rates unchanged following new President Christine Lagarde’s first monetary policy meeting in Frankfurt.
By the close of trade, the pan-European Stoxx 600 was around 0.5% higher, with banks, basic resources and autos leading the charge in the wake of Trump’s trade-friendly tweet.
· Shares in Asia jumped in Friday morning trade following news that Washington and Beijing have agreed to a phase one trade deal in principle, pending U.S. President Donald Trump’s approval.
Japanese stocks surged in early trade. The Nikkei 225 gained 2.09% as shares of index heavyweight Fast Retailing soared more than 2%. The Topix index added 1.63%.
Meanwhile, the Bank of Japan’s “tankan” survey released Friday showing business confidence among the country’s large manufacturers diving to its lowest level in more than six years.
South Korea’s Kospi also saw robust gains as it traded 1.26% higher, with shares of chipmaker SK Hynix surging more than 3%.
Shares in Australia advanced in morning trade, as the S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.4%.
Reference: CNBC, Reuters
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