Asian markets higher as US, China put trade war on hold

May 21, 2018 10:25 am | Updated 10:25 am IST - Seoul

 File photo: A man walks past an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei 225 index at a securities firm in Tokyo Wednesday, May 16, 2018.

File photo: A man walks past an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei 225 index at a securities firm in Tokyo Wednesday, May 16, 2018.

Asian stock markets were higher on Monday as investors cheered the outcome of negotiations between the United States and China that put a trade war on hold, clearing uncertainty.

Keeping score

Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 0.5% to 23,042.54. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng jumped 1.2% to 31,423.99, while Shanghai Composite Index advanced 0.8% to 3,217.93. South Korea’s Kospi added 0.3% to 2,467.36. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 inched down 0.1% to 6,081.10. Stocks in Southeast Asia were mostly higher.

Trade talks

The U.S. and China concluded their two days of trade negotiations with an agreement not to impose tariffs on each other, pulling back from the brink of a trade war. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said the two countries have made “meaningful progress” and that the U.S. has agreed to put on hold proposed tariffs on up to $150 billion in Chinese products. China said it will “significantly increase” its purchase of American goods and services.

Analysts’ take

“This is likely to send Asian markets higher as risk sentiment was somewhat subdued on Friday when markets stayed cautious amid China and the U.S. trade talks,” Mizuho Bank said in a daily commentary.

Wall Street

U.S. stocks finished mixed on Friday. The S&P 500 index fell 0.3% to 2,712.97. The Dow Jones industrial average gained 1.11 points to 24,715.09. The Nasdaq composite lost 0.4% to 7,354.34. The Russell 2000 index of smaller-company stocks rose 0.1% to 1,626.63.

Oil

Benchmark U.S. crude oil rose 55 cents to $71.83 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. In the previous session, the contract finished at $71.28 a barrel, down 21 cents. Brent crude, used to price international oil, gained 50 cents to $79.01 per barrel in London. It finished at $78.51 per barrel in the previous session, down 79 cents.

Currencies

The dollar rose to 111.11 yen from 110.78 yen while the euro weakened to $1.175 from $1.177.

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