Asian shares steady as Beijing calms US-China trade row
LONDON (AP) — Shares rebounded in Europe and Asia on Friday as worries over U.S.-China trade friction were calmed by conciliatory comments from Beijing. Attention was turning toward upcoming U.S. jobs data.
KEEPING SCORE: In Europe, stock markets made up around half of Thursday’s losses in morning trading. Germany’s DAX climbed 0.5 percent to 10,867 while the CAC 40 in France advanced 1.3 percent to 4,841. Britain’s FTSE 100 jumped 1.3 percent to 6,790. U.S. stocks were poised for retreat after recovering from lows on Thursday — Dow futures and the broader S&P 500 futures were both 0.5 percent lower.
THE DAY IN ASIA: Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 added 0.8 percent to 21,678.68, and Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.4 percent to 5,681.50. South Korea’s Kospi rose 0.3 percent to 2,075.76. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng gave up 0.3 percent to 26,063.76, while the Shanghai Composite was flat at 2,605.89. Shares rose in India, Taiwan and Southeast Asia.
ANALYST TAKE: “European and Asian markets have taken heart from a robust rebound last night in the U.S. that saw the Dow Jones claw back a whopping 700 points from the lows,” said Chris Beauchamp, chief market analyst at IG.
TRADE WATCH: Despite skepticism over the trade truce Presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping reached last weekend in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Beijing has signaled it intends to go ahead with talks meant to resolve the dispute. The arrest of Meng Wanzhou, chief financial officer of telecoms network supplier Huawei Technologies, has driven home why it will be so hard for the Trump administration to repair its deepening conflict with China. The U.S. Commerce Department reported Thursday that the gap between what the U.S. sells and what it buys from foreign countries hit $55.5 billion in October while the touchy deficit with China rose 7.1 percent from a year earlier to a record $43.1 billion.
PAYROLLS: How markets end the week could hinge on the upcoming U.S. nonfarm payrolls report for November. Economists have forecast that Friday’s figures will show that employers added a healthy 195,000 jobs last month and that the unemployment rate stayed at a five-decade low of 3.7 percent. Most economists think growth will remain brisk despite the rampant worries of stock market investors. Still, analysts expect the economy and hiring to likely weaken somewhat in the coming months.
ENERGY: U.S. benchmark crude rose 28 cents to $51.86 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange while Brent crude, used to price international oils, rose 77 cents to $60.83.
CURRENCIES: The euro was down 0.1 percent at $1.1387 while the dollar rose 0.2 percent to 112.84 yen.
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