By Ritu,
Capital Sands
Asian shares made guarded gains on Monday as investors dared to hope for
some progress in the endless Sino-U.S. trade dispute, while the outperformance
of recent U.S. economic data gave the dollar a leg up on its peers.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan bounced
0.8%, after losing 0.4% last week.
Japan’s Nikkei .N225 firmed 0.9%, while Australian
stocks .AXJO rose 0.5% and Shanghai blue
chips .CSI300 0.4%.
E-Mini futures for the S&P 500 ESc1 added 0.3%, while
EUROSTOXX 50 futures STXEc1 gained 0.6%.
On Saturday, U.S. national security adviser Robert O’Brien said an initial
trade agreement with China is still possible by the end of the year, though he
warned Washington would not turn a blind eye to what happens in Hong Kong.
comments add to worries that a Chinese crackdown on anti-government protests in
Hong Kong could further complicate the talks.
Over the weekend, pro-democracy candidates in Hong Kong romped to a
landslide and symbolic majority in district council elections in the embattled
city. are showing some signs of tiring of the steady drip feed of upbeat
comments from U.S. officials and no signs of a final agreement looking
likely,” said Robert Rennie, head of financial market strategy at Westpac.
“Key for markets will thus be whether the Dec. 15 tariffs covering
approximately $156 billion of largely technology imports are postponed and
whether a deal can be signed ahead of that date, with press suggesting that
these tariffs will be delayed to give negotiators more time.”
Reuters reported an ambitious “phase two” trade deal was also
looking less likely, according to U.S. and Beijing officials, lawmakers and
trade experts. DIRTY’
In currency markets, the dollar had rallied on Friday when U.S. manufacturing
surveys beat forecasts, just as European Union numbers disappointed. economic
data outperformed, highlighting again the resilience of the economy and that
while global growth has slowed, it remains the least dirty t-shirt in the
laundry basket,” said Tapas Strickland, a director of economics and
markets at National Australia Bank.
“For the EU data, the important takeaway was the ongoing decline in the
manufacturing sector is now spreading to the larger services sector, a worrying
sign for the global economy.”
European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde on Friday called on euro
zone governments to strengthen domestic demand after a global trade war brought
a decade of export-driven growth to an abrupt end. Reserve Chair Jerome Powell
speaks later on Monday and is expected to underline the steady outlook for
rates given the better economic figures.
The euro was off at $1.1023 EUR= on Monday, having breached chart
support at $1.1040, while the dollar edged up to 108.75 yen JPY= .
The dollar was steady on a basket of currencies at 98.243 .DXY ,
after gaining 0.3% last week.
