Asia: Up
Stocks closed higher on Thursday as investor sentiments were improved due to positive developments on the US-China trade front. In China, the Shanghai Composite rose 0.75% to 3031.24 while the Shenzhen component closed 0.6% higher at 9919.80.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index slipped by 0.2% after Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited’s (HKEX) bid to buy the London Stock Exchange Group (LSE).
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 rose 0.75% to close at 21759.61, while the Topix closed 2.3% higher at 1595.Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 closed at 6,654.90 after gaining 0.25%.
The positive sentiment through Asia was generated as President Trump kicked back the date for imposing increased tariff on Chinese goods from 1st October to 15th October 2019.
USA: Up
The week began with the S&P 500 closing 0.28% lower. Not all sectors closed in the red, as the Energy Market outperformed the rest of the sectors under S&P. Crude oil prices rose over 2% after the Saudi energy minister confirmed that OPEC and its allies would continue cuts in oil output.
Moving through the week, the S&P 500 closed higher on Tuesday along with Treasury yields rising. The 10 year note yield broke above 1.7%.
Wednesday saw a gain in all major indices, with the Dow and S&P 500 closing above 27,000 and 3,000 respectively for the first time since the end of July. Apple outperformed the market as the firm released new upgrades for their devices on Tuesday.
Thursday saw the S&P 500 close at 3009, missing it’s all time high by just 0.6%. Stocks rallied on the back of positive developments on the US-China Trade War front as US officials prepare to meet their Chinese counterparts next month.
The Dow ended 0.2% up at 27,182 while the Russell 2000 ended 4.6% up since Monday.
Europe: Up
On Thursday, the European Central Bank cut its deposit rate in a bid to lift the regional economy. This resulted in the Stoxx 600 gaining 0.4% to close at 391.31.
The German DAX gained 0.3% to close at 12408.95, while UK’s FTSE 100 closed 0.3% higher at 7340.93. In individual stock news, UK’s JD Sports topped the Stoxx600 after gaining 9.3% due to strong earnings reports. Shares of Just Eats fell 6.2%, while French utility company EDF slipped 7.6% after their nuclear reactor business Framatome was found to deviate from technical standards of welding of components.
