European stocks looked set to end the week on a brighter note after German and French industrial survey data proved to be better than expected for November. The Stoxx Europe 600 index advanced 0.4% while futures linked to the S&P 500 index climbed 0.2%. That followed a mixed performance in Asian markets, where Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index ended the day up 0.5% and the Shanghai Composite gauge finished 0.6% lower. For the eurozone as a whole, monthly manufacturing activity showed an improvement from October and beat the market’s expectations, ...

Investor sentiment towards most Asian currencies soured over the past two weeks, a Reuters poll showed, as markets reined in hopes that an interim Sino-U.S. trade deal would materialise soon. Expectations have eased that Beijing and Washington would sign an initial pact this year to end their 16-month-long tariff spat, after U.S. President Donald Trump threatened a hike in tariffs earlier in the week if a deal was not signed. Also, a fresh row over U.S. bills backing protesters in Hong Kong has emerged, threatening to worsen relations between the ...

Global stocks inched up on Friday, lifted by China’s renewed offer to work out a trade pact with Washington, but gains were limited by uncertainty over how the 16-month-old trade war plays out and how much it may undermine the world economy. Such jitters have put MSCI’s index of global shares on course to snap a six-week streak of gains, with lacklustre economic data and rising political risks in the United States and Britain also casting a pall on sentiment. European shares opened modestly firmer, however, rising off three-week lows ...

The dollar was marginally down on Friday and risk appetite boosted by statements from China on the need to find a solution to the tit-for-tat tariff war with the United States, raising hopes that a “phase one” deal could be reached. Chinese President Xi Jinping said Beijing wants to work out a deal with Washington and has been trying to avoid a trade war – but is not afraid to retaliate when necessary. A senior Chinese diplomat urged the United States to compromise in order to develop stable relations between ...

NASDAQ-Adv: 1335 Dec: 1823 NYSE-Adv: 1463 Dec: 2263 (Source: Nasdaq)

The dollar shook off early weakness to creep higher against other major currencies on Thursday, with investors focussed on the latest developments in a bitter 16-month long trade dispute between the United States and China that has weighed on the world economy. Risk sentiment seesawed on Thursday amid mixed signals on whether Washington and Beijing can work out at least a partial deal to end trade-related tensions between the world’s two largest economies. Investors, who in recent weeks had grown optimistic about the possibility of a deal, were unnerved by ...

Former U.S. Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson said calls to oust Chinese companies from American stock indexes was contrary to the foundations of capitalism, as he warned against the dangers of decoupling the world’s two largest economies. Paulson, who’s now chairman of the Paulson Institute, told Bloomberg’s New Economy Forum in Beijing that moves to reduce ties between the U.S. and China would weaken American leadership and New York’s leading role in finance. He said less cooperation between Washington and Beijing would also make it more difficult to tackle another financial ...

Global stocks wavered Thursday as investors assessed conflicting signals on the prospects for the U.S.-China trade talks. Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average swung between tepid gains and losses, a day after the gauge of U.S. blue-chip stocks logged its biggest fall of the month. Hong Kong’s benchmark Hang Seng Index ended the day down 1.6%, while the pan-continental Stoxx Europe 600 index retreated 0.5%, led by losses in sectors most exposed to the global economic impact of worsening trade tensions. China’s chief trade negotiator late last week ...

Global stocks slid further on Thursday as the standoff between the world’s two largest economies extended beyond trade, reducing the odds of a “phase-one” deal this year and forcing investors to seek shelter in safe-haven assets. The U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday passed two bills intended to support protesters in Hong Kong and send a warning to China about human rights. With U.S. President Donald Trump seen likely to sign the bill, Deutsche Bank strategist Jim Reid said this “could risk progress towards a phase one trade deal”. European ...

It has paid to listen to your friendly yen strategist — just not enough for a significant opportunity to make money. Year-end forecasts for the dollar-yen are on track to be the most accurate in recent history, according to data compiled by Bloomberg going back to at least 2006. But success has come from calling for little change in the currency, in a year where it has seen its narrowest trading range on record. Strategists began 2019 calling for the yen to trade at 108 per dollar by the end ...

The Japanese yen firmed against the dollar on Thursday after sources close to the White House told Reuters that a U.S.-China trade deal is unlikely this year, shattering investor hopes of a partial agreement soon and boosting safe-haven assets. The Chinese yuan fell to a three-week low in onshore trade on concern that a failure to reach a deal to roll back U.S. tariffs could deal a fresh blow to China’s stuttering economy. Political tensions between Beijing and Washington also kept investors on edge after a source told Reuters that ...

Sovereign wealth funds regained their appetite for equities in the third quarter, piling into passively managed stocks in the United States and equities in mainland China and elsewhere, according to eVestment data. Passively managed S&P 500 funds — those that buy a basket of S&P 500 stocks and hold them rather than trading day to day — took in $1.09 billion (£844 million) from sovereign investors during the period, the first net inflow since the fourth quarter of 2016, after significant outflows in recent years. In another sign of renewed ...

NASDAQ-Adv: 1175 Dec: 1994 NYSE-Adv: 1618 Dec: 2197 (Source: Nasdaq)

The dollar edged higher on Wednesday as worsening U.S.-China relations supported demand for the safe-haven greenback even as investors awaited the release of minutes from the Federal Reserve’s October policy meeting for clues to the path of future U.S. interest rates. Investors, who in recent weeks had grown optimistic that Washington and Beijing would sign a so-called “phase one” deal this month to scale back their 16-month-long trade war, were worried by a hardening of the trade war rhetoric from both sides. The United States would raise tariffs on Chinese ...

Global stocks retreated Wednesday as trade talks between the U.S. and China appeared to near an impasse, with President Trump threatening to raise tariffs further. Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average receded 0.4%, while the Shanghai Composite Index ended the day down 0.8%. Investors are growing concerned that relations between the world’s two biggest economies may be further strained after the U.S. Senate passed a bill in support of Hong Kong’s antigovernment protesters. The bill would require the U.S. Secretary of State to certify annually that Hong Kong ...