Global Stocks Mixed Amid Trade Uncertainty
October 14 2019 - 5:07AM
Dow Jones News
By Caitlin Ostroff and Joanne Chiu
-- Asian equities rally on optimism about U.S.-China trade deal
-- European shares drop as region braces for fresh U.S. tariffs
-- Pound weakens with Brexit-deal optimism wavering
-- Pound weakens with Brexit-deal optimism wavering
-- European shares drop as region braces for fresh U.S.
tariffs
-- Asian equities rally on optimism about U.S.-China trade
deal
Global stocks painted a mixed picture at the start of the week
as optimism about a potential U.S.-China trade deal was offset by
uncertainty surrounding Brexit and fresh tariffs in Europe.
Stocks in Asia, which had ended trading before President Trump
said Friday that the U.S. and China had completed the early stages
of a deal, rallied on the news Monday. The Shanghai Composite gauge
advanced 1.2% while the benchmark Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong rose
0.9%. The Chinese yuan strengthened 0.4% to 7.0564 a dollar in
offshore trading.
"The ceasefire suggested that China and U.S. trade negotiations
were moving back to the right track," said Ken Cheung, chief Asian
foreign-exchange strategist at Mizuho Bank.
Still, U.S. stock futures ticked slightly lower on Monday as
fresh questions cropped up over the weekend about the two
countries' ability to reach a broader agreement.
The world's two largest economies ended last week by saying they
had taken initial steps to cement a trade agreement, with
Washington forgoing a planned increase in tariffs on imports from
China that was scheduled to go into place in the coming days. While
Beijing agreed to boost purchases of U.S. agricultural products,
details remained elusive, and disagreements on a number of other
issues remained unresolved.
Over in Europe, the pound fell 0.5% against the dollar. The
weekend of talks between European Union and British negotiators,
who face a deadline this week to reach a deal on Brexit, failed to
result in a breakthrough. Diplomats said even the outline of a deal
looked difficult to clinch given the gap between the sides and the
complexity of the issues, erasing some of last week's optimism. The
U.K.'s FTSE 100 barometer dropped 0.5%.
The pan-continental Stoxx Europe 600 gauge fell 0.7%, led by
declines in basic-resources companies. Questions about economic
growth prospects in the region continue to mount, especially after
the U.S. earlier this month announced plans to hit European
airlines, whiskey, cheese and hand tools with tariffs later this
week.
While U.S. bond markets will be closed Monday in observance of
Columbus Day, stock trading will resume, though likely with lower
volumes than normal.
Write to Caitlin Ostroff at caitlin.ostroff@wsj.com and Joanne
Chiu at joanne.chiu@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
October 14, 2019 04:52 ET (08:52 GMT)
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