Global shares mostly higher on hopes for China trade talks
Asian shares made moderate gains early Friday after U.S. stocks jumped on news China is preparing to resume trade discussions with the U.S., the first negotiations in more than a month.
KEEPING SCORE: Britain's FTSE 100 gained 0.3 percent to 7,575.97 and the CAC 40 in France added 0.2 percent to 5,360.68, while Germany's DAX edged 0.1 percent lower to 12,229.01. The future contract for the Dow Jones industrial average rose 0.1 percent while the contract for the S&P 500 was flat.
ASIA'S DAY: Japan's Nikkei 225 index added 0.4 percent to 22,270.38, while the Shanghai Composite index shed 1.3 percent to 2,668.97. Hong Kong's Hang Seng gained 0.4 percent to 27,213.41 and India's Sensex jumped 0.8 percent to 37,957.33. In South Korea, the Kospi gained 0.3 percent to 2,247.05. Australia's S&P ASX 200 picked up 0.2 percent to 6,339.20. Shares were higher in Taiwan, Thailand and Singapore but fell in Malaysia.
CHINA TRADE: China will send a trade envoy to Washington later this month in a fresh attempt to end the trade dispute before it causes major damage to the global economy. The two sides haven't talked since early June. After the latest round of talks failed to produce much progress, both countries put taxes on $34 billion in each other's imports. Those tariffs are set to rise next week, and both countries have threatened even larger increases as early as September.
QUOTABLE: "A temporary wave of relief swept over the markets as China initiated trade talks with the U.S. government. The indication for peace talks is much welcomed by markets after a long, 2 month standoff," Jayden Loh, a trader at IG in Singapore, said in a commentary.
ENERGY: U.S. crude picked up 17 cents to $65.63 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It gained 0.7 percent to settle at $65.46 a barrel in New York. Brent crude, the standard for international oil prices, climbed 23 cents to $71.66 per barrel.
CURRENCIES: The dollar fell to 110.70 yen from 110.89 yen. The euro rose to $1.1410 from $1.1379. Turkey's lira was steady at 5.82 to the dollar.