By Riva Gold 

Stocks in Europe and Asia were mostly higher Monday in a week expected to be dominated by Brexit developments and fresh readings on the U.S. and European economies.

The Stoxx Europe 600 edged up 0.3% in morning from its lowest close this month, while futures pointed to a flat opening on Wall Street. Asian markets mostly rallied despite lingering trade tensions between the U.S. and China at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit.

The economic summit of world leaders ended Sunday without issuing a communiqué for the first time in its nearly three-decade history amid a fight over Chinese trade practices.

Many investors remain hopeful however that U.S.-China trade tensions will cool when President Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping meet in Buenos Aires in less than two weeks. The two sides are aiming for at least a trade cease-fire that would involve a new set of negotiations tied to a U.S. pledge to hold off on additional tariffs.

"China is the main reason we've been reducing risk in the near-term" said Hani Redha, a portfolio manager at PineBridge Investments, noting he has seen signs of an economic slowdown there in consumption indicators and household and corporate surveys.

On Monday in Europe, Swiss pharmaceutical giant Novartis was up 0.8% following the FDA's approval of its drug Promacta on Friday and shares of Danish insulin maker Novo Nordisk were up 2.8%.

Shares of French car maker Renault lagged behind, dropping 4.7% following reports that its Chief Executive Carlos Ghosn is facing arrest in Japan.

In Asian trading, Japan's Nikkei Stock Average rose 0.65% led by health care and telecommunications companies, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng added 0.7% and the Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.9% as Chinese property companies climbed.

Australia's commodity-heavy S&P ASX 200 edged down 0.6% after falling over 3% last week, weighed down by fresh losses in energy companies. Brent crude oil was last up 0.2% at $66.90 a barrel but remained down around 4.5% from a week ago.

Volatile moves in oil prices have also been a drag on stocks in the U.S. and contributed to widening spreads on high-yield corporate bonds.

"Oil's growing importance for U.S. companies has meant we're at a tipping point where falling oil may not be a net benefit for the U.S.," said Frances Donald, head of macroeconomic strategy at Manulife Asset Management.

Following rapid development of the U.S. energy sector, "I look at oil prices and I say inflation is now lower, Treasury yields are likely lower, and capex activity is lower," she said.

Yields on 10-year Treasurys were last at 3.087% from about 3.145% just under a week ago.

U.S. stocks closed higher Friday but ended the week with losses amid concerns about volatile trading in oil prices, disappointing corporate results and below-forecast U.S. industrial output figures which reignited worries that growth was slowing.

Third-quarter earnings for S&P 500 companies have mostly surged this quarter, jumping 26% from a year earlier, but downbeat comments about the outlook for next year have damped investors' enthusiasm. Earnings reports are expected to wrap up this week, shifting focus back to other market drivers.

Later this week, investors are expected to parse figures on U.S. housing starts, home sales and consumer sentiment data, as well as key business surveys from the eurozone.

Brexit developments will also likely continue to steer European appetite for risk ahead of a Nov. 25 summit as U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May fights to save her Brexit deal.

The British pound was up 0.2% at $1.2860 on Monday and the FTSE 250 stock index was up 0.5%, recouping some of last week's declines.

Write to Riva Gold at riva.gold@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

November 19, 2018 05:25 ET (10:25 GMT)

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