Asian shares have surged on reports that Donald Trump wants to reach an agreement with Chinese president Xi Jinping about the trade dispute that has dogged markets for months.
The US president spoke to Xi on Thursday and later tweeted that trade talks with China were “moving along nicely” ahead of face-to-face talks between the pair at the G20 summit in Argentina later this month.
Donald J. Trump ✔@realDonaldTrump Just had a long and very good conversation with President Xi Jinping of China. We talked about many subjects, with a heavy emphasis on Trade. Those discussions are moving along nicely with meetings being scheduled at the G-20 in Argentina. Also had good discussion on North Korea! 3:09 PM – Nov 1, 2018 84.9K 29.8K people are talking about this
✔@realDonaldTrump
Just had a long and very good conversation with President Xi Jinping of China. We talked about many subjects, with a heavy emphasis on Trade. Those discussions are moving along nicely with meetings being scheduled at the G-20 in Argentina. Also had good discussion on North Korea!
84.9K
29.8K people are talking about this
But Bloomberg later reported that the phone call – in which Trump and Xi both expressed optimism about resolving their bitter trade disputes – prompted Trump to ask officials to begin drafting potential terms.
China’s foreign ministry said on Friday that the telephone call between the two leaders was quite positive and that the pair believed they should “enhance trade relations”.
The reports lit a fire under stock markets that have beset by fears of a full-blown trade war between the world’s two biggest economies.
The Nikkei was up 2.5% in Tokyo, the Hang Seng climbed 3.7% in Hong Kong and the Shanghai Composite was up 3.3%. In South Korea, where the export-oriented economy has showed signs of a downturn, the Kospi index had its best day for seven years, jumping 3.5%. The ASX200 in Sydney had already closed up a more modest 0.14% when news of a possible deal came through.
US stock futures rose 0.7% and the FTSE100 is set for a jump of almost 1% when it opens in London on Friday morning. France’s CAC and Germany’s DAX are expected to enjoy similar gains.
For more read the full of article at The Guardian
