AFP, New York :
Boosterish claims of progress in US-China trade talks lifted global stocks on Friday, sending Wall Street to its longest winning streak in more than two decades.
Asian and European markets likewise were mostly higher, amid signals from Chinese and American officials building expectations the two sides will successfully resolve their seven-month trade war, which as knocked equities prices sideways for much of the last year.
In Washington, US President Donald Trump said the latest round of trade talks had been extended by another two days as the two sides raced to strike a bargain ahead of a March 1 deadline to avoid sharp increases in US duties on Chinese goods – and he again said he might be willing to push back the deadline. “I think there is a very, very good chance that a deal can be made,” Trump told reporters at the White House.
In New York, the blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average closed higher, marking its ninth straight weekly gain – the longest such streak since May 1995.
Despite the Dow’s advance since December – when the Federal Reserve all but announced a halt to its interest rate hikes – the benchmark index is still below where it was in mid-January of last year.
“Markets are responding to what seems like meaningful progress on the trade dispute between us and China and given the president remarks this afternoon it looks like a deal is very close,” Alan Skrainka of Cornerstone Wealth Management told AFP.
Boosterish claims of progress in US-China trade talks lifted global stocks on Friday, sending Wall Street to its longest winning streak in more than two decades.
Asian and European markets likewise were mostly higher, amid signals from Chinese and American officials building expectations the two sides will successfully resolve their seven-month trade war, which as knocked equities prices sideways for much of the last year.
In Washington, US President Donald Trump said the latest round of trade talks had been extended by another two days as the two sides raced to strike a bargain ahead of a March 1 deadline to avoid sharp increases in US duties on Chinese goods – and he again said he might be willing to push back the deadline. “I think there is a very, very good chance that a deal can be made,” Trump told reporters at the White House.
In New York, the blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average closed higher, marking its ninth straight weekly gain – the longest such streak since May 1995.
Despite the Dow’s advance since December – when the Federal Reserve all but announced a halt to its interest rate hikes – the benchmark index is still below where it was in mid-January of last year.
“Markets are responding to what seems like meaningful progress on the trade dispute between us and China and given the president remarks this afternoon it looks like a deal is very close,” Alan Skrainka of Cornerstone Wealth Management told AFP.
