Asian equities gain optimism over US-China trade

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Inventories were generally higher in Asia on Friday, after overnight rises on Wall Street. Investors have stepped up their purchases in hopes of easing tensions resulting from the costly trade war between the United States.

Japan's Nikkei 225 rose 1% to 21,982.06 while Hong Kong's Hang Seng rose 0.4% to 27,186.35. The Sydney S & P ASX 300 edged up 0.1% to 6,621.20. The markets of Shanghai, Taiwan and South Korea were closed during the holidays. Shares rose in India but fell in New Zealand.

Shares rose on Wall Street after the United States and China took steps to ease tensions in their costly trade war.

Technology, financial and consumer-oriented stocks contributed to the slight recovery, which prolonged the strong market gains over the previous day, despite the deceleration in the last hour of trading. The benchmark, the S & P 500, closed at 0.6% of its record high of July 26th.

The United States has agreed to postpone a new round of tariffs on imports from China until October 15 next week. At the same time, Chinese importers have been asking US suppliers for prices for soybeans, pork and other agricultural products, sign that they could increase their purchases of US agricultural products. .

This has sparked cautious investor optimism that the next round of trade talks between Washington and Beijing in October could lead to some progress after a series of unsuccessful attempts to resolve the long-standing dispute.

"What's driving markets today is the possibility of an interim trade deal," said Tony Roth, director of investments at Wilmington Trust. "The national economy (Chinese) and the national economy are painful enough that the two presidents have an interest in taking a step back and have a little room for maneuver at the moment. That's what has changed.

The S & P 500 index rose 0.3% to 3,009.57. The Dow Jones Industrial Average extended its winning streak to a seventh consecutive day, gaining 0.2% to 27 182.45.

Nasdaq rose 0.3% to 8,194.47, while the Russell 2000 Smaller Stock Index yielded an anticipated gain, slipping 0.65 point to 1,575.07.

Talks between the United States and China have been largely unsuccessful since the beginning of May, when both sides appeared to be on the verge of concluding an agreement. Along the way, countries have imposed import taxes on products worth hundreds of billions of dollars.

Financial markets were shaken in August by the escalating trade dispute, fueling concerns that more tariffs and a slowing global economy could drag the US into a recession. Economic uncertainty has also become a drag on businesses.

Conciliation measures taken Wednesday and Thursday by the two countries have left Wall Street hope that future trade negotiations could lead to a result different from that of previous attempts.

The reason? The trade war began to weigh economically on both economies.

"Six months or even three months ago, you do not see the same economic deterioration as in both economies," Roth said. "The markets believe that there is some credibility in the idea of an interim trade ceasefire, for example, which involves lowering some of the tariffs, which the Chinese would do better, and bring relief to both economies. "

Several weeks of strong gains helped the S & P 500 recover its August losses, bringing it closer to a new closing record this week.

The index is also on track to reach its best September since 2013. The S & P 500 index is up 2.8% this month, after falling 1, 8% in August. This is remarkable because the index fell in September 55% of the time since World War II, even though the record was better during the 10 year bull market.

Small businesses are the stars of this month. The Russell 2000 stock index of smaller companies is up 5.4%, with most of the hike coming this week. These small businesses are seen as more isolated from the impact of volatile fluctuations in the US-China trade war.

Technology stocks posted solid gains on Thursday. Companies in the sector, especially chip manufacturers, are heavily affected by the trade war as many of them manufacture products in China or use Chinese suppliers.

The 10-year Treasury yield reached 1.78%, against 1.73% a day earlier, which boosted the shares of the financial sector. Higher yields lead to higher interest rates on mortgages and other consumer loans, which increases banks' profits. SunTrust Banks grew by 1.3% and American Express by 0.9%.

The benchmark crude oil fell 13 cents to 54.96 dollars a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. He lost 66 cents to settle at $ 55.09 a barrel on Thursday. Brent crude oil, the international standard, fell 19 cents to 60.19 dollars a barrel. He sold 66 cents to 60.38 dollars a barrel overnight.

The dollar was stable at 108.16 Japanese yen. The euro also held up well, at $ 1,1072. / gsg