New York (AFP) – Stock markets rose Monday after conciliatory comments from US President Donald Trump eased worries about China-US trade tensions. Major US indices jumped more than one percent, boosted also by gains in large tech names led by Apple. Tokyo stocks surged more than three percent to a record after Japan’s ruling party said it was set to sign a new coalition deal. The deal, signed on Monday, paves the way for Sanae Takaichi to become prime minister and raises hopes for an end to the country’s political turmoil.
Most stock markets started the week on the front foot as traders “responded to an apparent softening in rhetoric concerning the reigniting of the trade war between the US and China,” said David Morrison, senior market analyst at Trade Nation. Shares of Apple surged nearly four percent following a report by research firm Counterpoint that showed the tech giant’s latest iPhone outselling the prior generation item by a large amount. Meanwhile, a global outage hit Amazon’s cloud services for several hours on Monday, affecting online services for the US tech giant and numerous other companies and organizations. But that didn’t hit Amazon’s share price, which rose 1.6 percent.
In Europe, Frankfurt’s stock market rose 1.8 percent. Even Paris pushed higher from early losses that were fueled by BNP Paribas, whose share price tumbled more than seven percent after a US court late last week found it liable for atrocities committed in Sudan. French bonds declined after S&P Global cut the country’s credit rating, citing risks that the government would fail to significantly reduce its deficit next year. The Paris stock exchange got a lift from Gucci-owner Kering, which rose 4.8 percent after it announced the $4.6 billion sale of its beauty products division to L’Oreal.
Hong Kong advanced more than two percent and Shanghai was also well up at close as data showed China’s economy grew in line with expectations in the third quarter, though at its slowest pace in a year. The data was released just hours before the start of a closely watched four-day meeting in Beijing with top Communist Party officials focused on long-term economic planning. Trump has softened his rhetoric on China after threatening deep tariffs earlier in the month. The US president expressed optimism ahead of a meeting with counterpart Xi Jinping later this month at as Asia-Pacific summit in South Korea. Trump said his priority was reaching a “fair” trade deal with China.
He declined to answer a question on whether he would sacrifice US support for Taiwan as part of an agreement with Xi. “I want to be good to China. I love my relationship with President Xi. We have a great relationship,” Trump said. Trump also expressed doubt that China would invade Taiwan, saying “I think we’ll be just fine with China. China doesn’t want to do that,” as he met Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese. Among individual companies, Cleveland Cliffs soared 21.5 percent as the US steel company touted its advantages with customers in light of US trade tariffs on imported steel. The company is also exploring its properties for potential rare earth development.
– Key figures at around 2020 GMT –
New York – Dow: UP 1.1 percent at 46,706.58 (close)
New York – S&P 500: UP 1.1 percent at 6,735.13 (close)
New York – Nasdaq Composite: UP 1.4 percent at 22,990.54 (close)
London – FTSE 100: UP 0.5 percent at 9,403.57 (close)
Paris – CAC 40: UP 0.4 percent at 8,206.07 (close)
Frankfurt – DAX: UP 1.8 percent at 24,258.80 (close)
Tokyo – Nikkei 225: UP 3.4 percent at 49,185.50 (close)
Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: UP 2.4 percent at 25,858.83 (close)
Shanghai – Composite: UP 0.6 percent at 3,863.89 (close)
Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.1641 from $1.1655 on Friday
Pound/dollar: DOWN at $1.3409 from $1.3427
Dollar/yen: UP at 150.73 yen from 150.61 yen
Euro/pound: UP at 86.82 percent from 86.80 pence
West Texas Intermediate: DOWN less than 0.1 percent at $57.52 per barrel
Brent North Sea Crude: DOWN 0.5 percent at $62.01 per barrel
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© 2024 AFP
