Equities rise after US treasury secretary says he hopes trade talks with China are nearing the final lap, while strong Chinese data boosts confidence in the global economy
A pedestrian walks past an electronic stock board displaying the Nikkei 225 Stock Average and the Shanghai Stock Exchange Composite index in Tokyo, Japan. Picture: BLOOMBERG/TOMOHIRO OHSUMIAsian shares neared nine-month highs on Monday after US treasury secretary Steven Mnuchin said he hopes US-China trade talks are approaching a final lap, while strong Chinese export and bank loan data boosted confidence in the global economy.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng added 1.2% while South Korea’s Kospi rose 0.7%. Japan’s Nikkei also joined the party, gaining 1.4% to the highest since early December. On Saturday, Mnuchin said a US-China trade agreement would go “way beyond” previous efforts to open China’s markets to US companies and hoped that the two sides were “close to the final round” of negotiations.
There have also been fears that weakness in key economies, including China, could spread to other countries, especially if elevated trade tensions between Beijing and Washington escalated further. On Friday, the Dow jumped 1%, the S&P500 climbed 0.7% and the Nasdaq added 0.5%. JPMorgan analysts were less confident this share euphoria could continue, with valuations already sky high.
The euro was a tad firmer at $1.1309 as dealers were gearing up for demand from Japan as Mitsubishi UFJ Financial closed in on its multibillion-euro acquisition of DZ Bank’s aviation-finance business.
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