Despite all the back and forth between Donald Trump and Xi Jinping’s negotiating teams, the U.S. and China will ultimately come to a trade agreement, according to one investor. When that happens, markets could soar 15 percent or more for the rest of the year, said Jackson Wong, associate director at Huarong International Securities. “The rumor is (that by the) end of April, the deal would be 90 percent done. And, by end June, (the) deal would be signed,” Wong told CNBC’s “Street Signs” on Friday. Wong’s prediction follows the ...

Investors are betting on heightened political uncertainty and greater volatility in European stock markets ahead of European Parliament elections in May amid growing concerns about rising populism. In one of the first concrete signs in financial markets that investors are bracing for political instability, VSTOXX futures, which reflect investor sentiment and economic uncertainty, have jumped in recent weeks. While the classic gauge of fear — known as implied volatility, which tracks demand for options in European stocks — is currently at 15.68, futures that bet on the same thing over ...

The Shanghai Stock Exchange took a major step toward launching its hotly-anticipated Nasdaq-style technology board, announcing on Friday that it had accepted listing applications from nine companies, in sectors from chip making to new energy technology. The announcement on the exchange’s website means share trading will start on the Science and Technology Innovation board as soon as June, since the exchange will take three months to review applications. The new tech board, announced by President Xi Jinping in November, marks a radical shift from the current lengthy and cumbersome process ...

The volatility gauge for euro-zone stocks jumped to six-week highs on Friday after weaker-than-expected manufacturing data for the euro zone and Germany underscored worries about slowing growth in the region. The euro zone’s blue-chip STOXX50 volatility index was up 5.1 percent at 16.49 at 1009 GMT, after hitting its highest since Feb. 8 earlier in the session. The rise came as stocks fell sharply into negative territory after data which revealed euro zone businesses performed much worse than expected in March as factory activity contracted at the fastest pace in ...

Strategists are starting to cast doubt on the powerful new-year rally in European equities. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index is expected to lose 6 percent from Wednesday’s closing levels to 358 points by the end of 2019, according to the average projection in the latest Bloomberg poll. The Euro Stoxx 50 Index, home of the euro-area’s biggest companies, is seen declining 4 percent from current levels to 3,238, according to the average survey estimate. The region’s equities this week almost erased the impact from the end of 2018’s sell-off as ...

Global stocks were mostly flat Friday after European Union leaders agreed to a short Brexit delay, while investors weighed further signs of a sluggish global economy. The Stoxx Europe 600 was broadly flat in morning trade, and Asian stocks finished slightly higher. On Wall Street, futures pointed to 0.2% opening falls for the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average. Late Thursday, European Union leaders allowed U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May to postpone the Brexit deadline beyond next week, but warned Britain could still crash out of the bloc ...

Stock exchanges in Europe are not harming markets or gouging customers with the fees they charge for data, an industry-commissioned report said on Thursday. The report from consultants Oxera for the Federation of European Securities Exchanges (FESE) wants to counter accusations from investment funds that “monopoly” bourses were continually hiking fees for market data to lift profits. Investment firms have called on the EU’s markets watchdog ESMA to review market data fees charged by exchanges, saying they keep on rising despite falling costs of computing and data storage. Oxera’s report ...

Global stocks were mixed Thursday, as markets digested the Federal Reserve’s signal of no more rate increases this year and a sharply lower forecast for U.S. growth. Stocks sold off Wednesday as anxiety emanated from the Federal Reserve — with officials signaling zero rate increases this year and stoking concerns about slowing global growth — and the White House, where President Trump played down the imminence of a trade deal with China. The Federal Reserve left its policy rate unchanged in a range between 2.25% and 2.5%, adding it would ...

U.S. stocks fell on Wednesday after economic bellwether FedEx issued a downbeat profit outlook and as investors waited for more clarity on the Federal Reserve’s interest rate forecasts for the rest of the year. The central bank is expected to keep the fed funds rate steady and lower the number of hikes forecast for 2019 as it wraps up a two-day policy meeting, followed by a statement and news conference. The policy statement will also shed light on long-awaited details regarding the Fed’s plans to stop reducing its holdings of ...

Global stocks sagged on Wednesday as investors remained cautious ahead of another round of high-level trade talks between the U.S. and China planned for next week. In Europe, the Stoxx Europe 600 was down 0.3% in morning trading. Asian stocks led the market lower with Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index down 0.5% and the Shanghai Stock Exchange down marginally too. Futures pointed to a modest opening uptick in the U.S. of 0.1% for both the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500. On Tuesday it emerged that Trade Representative ...

Fund managers have named bearish bets in European equities as the “most crowded” trade in Bank of America Merrill Lynch’s survey for the first time in its history, suggesting sentiment for one of the world’s most shunned markets may rise from here. Investors have pulled cash from European stocks over the past year, betting the market would be weaker compared with the United States and other regions as euro zone economic growth slows and Britain’s chaotic exit from the European Union raises concerns about disruption to its economy. Short European ...

World shares basked in their longest winning streak of the year ahead of a Federal Reserve meeting on Tuesday, while the pound kept calm after another dramatic twist in the Brexit plot bolstered bets on a lengthy delay to the process. With traders expecting soothing sounds from the Fed’s two-day meeting which starts later, Europe’s 0.6 – 1 percent gains lifted MSCI’s 47-country world index for a seventh straight day and to its highest since October. Asia had kept to tight ranges during its session, but all three major Wall ...

Global stocks mostly edged up on Tuesday as investors awaited key central bank meetings later in the week. Interest-rate decisions and forward guidance were expected from both the Federal Reserve and the Bank of England. Market participants will be watching the banks’ statements for signals on the health of global economic growth and the potential impact of political risk events such as Brexit. The Stoxx Europe 600 rose 0.4% in early trading. Gains for basic resources stocks slightly outweighed a downtick in the index’s banking basket, with Antofagasta shares up ...

Euro-denominated government bond, repurchase agreement and foreign exchange trading at CME Group has moved from London to Amsterdam to avoid disruption from Brexit, the exchange said on Monday. CME Group, one of the world’s biggest exchanges, set up new units in the Dutch financial capital to avoid European Union customers being disrupted by whatever form Britain’s departure from the bloc takes. Clearing of its euro repo trades at London Stock Exchange’s LCH unit in London had already moved to LCH’s Paris arm in order to be inside the EU after ...

Stocks kicked off 2019 with a bang as U.S.-China trade tensions simmered while the Federal Reserve signaled patience in raising rates. However, stocks will need improving economic data to make a run at the record levels set last year. The Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 are both 4 percent away from their all-time highs. The Nasdaq Composite is trading about 5.5 percent away from its record. However, the main catalysts that led stocks to this point — declining worries over China trade and Fed monetary policy — have ...