World stocks held near record highs on Monday as generally better data and earnings bolstered sentiment, while oil prices hit their highest in over a week after two large crude production bases in Libya began shutting down following a blockade. European equities opened a touch lower, while U.S. stock futures were down marginally. Trading was light with U.S. markets closed for the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday. Still, the week was expected to bring plenty of direction given central bank meetings, earnings, closely-watched business activity data and the annual meeting ...

China’s financial markets are nearly evenly divided over whether the benchmark lending rate will be lowered or kept steady next Monday, a survey of participants showed, after the central bank kept rates on medium-term loans unchanged this week. Twenty-eight respondents, or about 51% of those in the snap survey conducted this week, expected no change to either the one-year loan prime rate (LPR) or the five-year tenor in its monthly fixing next Monday. Another 35% of all participants still expect a marginal reduction of five basis points in the one-year ...

Global stocks advanced Friday as signs of the Chinese economy stabilizing and robust earnings from some of the biggest U.S. banks fueled investors’ optimism. Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.3%, a day after notching yet another all-time high. The pan-continental Stoxx Europe 600 gauge rose 0.9%, putting it on course to close at a fresh record. Fresh data showed that China’s industrial production rebounded last year, with the 6.9% growth in output in December beating forecasts and marking the fastest pace of expansion in nine months. ...

World shares rose to record highs on Friday, buoyed by Chinese data that suggested the world’s second-biggest economy was stabilising. Riskier assets were in demand worldwide as the Chinese growth data, along with easing trade tensions with the United States, sent the MSCI world equity index up 0.2% and further into record territory. China’s economy grew 6% between October and December last year. Anaemic domestic demand and the trade war with the United States led to growth of 6.1% in 2019, the slowest in 29 years. But the data reinforced ...

The long-awaited phase-one trade deal between the U.S. and China is due to be signed on Wednesday, but the uncertainty may still linger. Joseph Little, global chief strategist for HSBC Global Asset Management with about $500 billion of assets under management, told MarketWatch the tensions around trade aren’t fully resolved. “There are still concerns about the macro outlook, about the structure internationally with the U.S. still challenging the nominations for the World Trade Organization,” he said. “The [trade] environment remains very much in flux and a source of concern and ...

China and the United States signed a phase one trade agreement on Wednesday, ending an 18-month trade dispute full of uncertainty between the world’s two largest economies. The agreement, released in both Chinese and English, consists of eight chapters touching in detail on several subjects including intellectual property, technology transfer, food and agricultural products, and financial services. After the signing of the agreement, Chinese Vice Premier Liu He said that the phase one economic and trade deal between China and the U.S. was beneficial not only for both countries, but ...

New European Union cross-border share trading platforms set up by the London Stock Exchange and rival Aquis ahead of Brexit have been mothballed due to limited demand. The LSE said there are no plans for the new Amsterdam offshoot of its Turquoise pan-European platform to start up next month, while Aquis, which set up a hub in Paris, said trading in euro shares would continue in London for now. “To do anything else at this point would unnecessarily fragment liquidity and, not surprisingly, there has been no member push for ...

Global stocks ticked higher Thursday as investors shifted focus to corporate earnings for cues on the health of the economy after an initial U.S.-China trade deal was sealed. Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average edged up 0.2%, a day after the gauge finished above 29000 for the first time. The pan-continental Stoxx Europe 600 index was mostly flat, while China’s Shanghai Composite Index ended the day down 0.5%. The first week of the U.S. corporate earnings season is set to continue with Morgan Stanley and PPG Industries poised ...

Global stocks drifted lower Wednesday as investors grew concerned that an initial U.S.-China trade pact, set to be sealed later in the day, won’t assuage ongoing trade and technology tensions between the two superpowers. Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average were mostly unchanged. The Shanghai Composite closed 0.5% lower, and the pan-continental Stoxx Europe 600 index swung between gains and losses. While the signing of the accord is widely expected to call a halt to the two-year trade war between the U.S. and China, a continuing battle over ...

World stocks eased off record highs on Wednesday and U.S. and German bond yields slipped as euphoria over a Sino-U.S. trade deal was depleted by U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin saying tariffs on Chinese goods would remain in place for now. The 18-month long trade spat should enter a quieter phase as U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese Vice Premier Liu He sign an initial agreement that would boost Chinese purchases of U.S. manufactured and agricultural goods, energy and services. Dubbed the Phase 1 deal, it may soothe markets which ...

Europe’s markets were struck by a bout of weakness on Tuesday, as traders cashed in on recent record highs and waited for a long-awaited U.S.-China trade deal and the first flurries of the Wall Street earnings season. It had been smooth sailing in Asia. MSCI’s world stocks index set a new record high after reassuring Chinese data and Washington had said it no longer deemed Beijing a currency manipulator, but Europe’s open saw the currents turn. Dealers struggled to put their finger on the exact cause but London, Frankfurt and ...

China’s foreign exchange regulator announced measures on Monday that would provide more forex hedging channels for overseas bond investors, as China continues to reform its capital markets and lure foreign capital. China has been attracting massive foreign inflows into its stock and bond markets over the past two years through a series of reforms. But the shortage of hedging tools or channels has long been a source of pain for global investors in China. China will simplify the process for foreign institutional investors to trade foreign exchange derivatives, the State ...

Chinese firms implemented 1.4 trillion yuan ($203 billion) in debt-to-equity swaps and disposed of 2 trillion yuan in soured debt last year as they moved to allay financial risk, the country’s banking and insurance regulator said on Monday. Resolving financial risk will remain China’s top priority in 2020, Huang Hong, the vice chairman of China’s Banking and Insurance Regulatory Committee (CBIRC), told a press conference in Beijing. This year the regulator will prioritise cleaning up the assets of financial groups built upon “wrongdoing”, dismantling shadow banking, preventing illegal credit flowing ...

Global stocks drifted higher Monday on signs that geopolitical risks are in check with no new tensions arising in the Middle East over the weekend following the U.S. airstrike that killed an Iranian leader earlier this month. Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average edged up 0.3%. The pan-continental Stoxx Europe 600 gauge wavered between gains and losses. In Asia, the Shanghai Composite Index closed up 0.8%. Tensions between the U.S. and Iran have eased in recent days, with the spotlight on the Islamic Republic after it admitted last ...

The U.S. dollar, which has dominated currency market trading for the last two years, looks set to do so again in 2020, according to the latest Reuters poll of foreign exchange strategists. While most of those who forecast spot FX rates are still clinging to a view that the euro may edge up slightly by the end of the year, when asked about the overall trend, few say the well-established dollar dominance is about to quickly fade. Part of that stems from the recent flare-up in tensions between the United ...