Stocks rose on Monday in Europe and Asia ahead of virtual talks between US President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping.
The meeting, scheduled for late Monday, could add some clarity to the strained trade relationship between the world’s two largest economies.
It goes against pledges by the United States and China at the United Nations climate talks to strengthen cooperation on controlling climate-damaging emissions. But it comes after months of fruitless exchanges between the two presidents’ top advisers.
“So far, relations between Washington and Beijing are at their lowest point, and traders hope that this meeting will give them a reason to feel a little more comfortable when it comes to geopolitics.” , Naeem Aslam of Avatrade said in a comment.
Germany’s DAX rose 0.1% to 16,104.86 while CAC 40 in Paris rose 0.3% to 7,112.49. In London, the FTSE 100 was almost flat at 7,348.52.
Futures for the S&P 500 and Dow Jones were both 0.1% higher.
Japan reported that its economy contracted in the September-September quarter as tighter pandemic restrictions hit consumer spending.
On an annual basis, the economy shrinks at a rate of 0.3%. It fell 0.8% from the previous quarter.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida will launch a massive economic stimulus package this week, with spending amounting to 40 trillion yen ($350 billion).
The sharp drop in new coronavirus infections recently has allowed the country to relax restrictions on business and other activities, and that coupled with government spending is expected to slow down. spurred a solid rebound in the last quarter of the year.
Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 index rose 0.6 percent to 29,776.80, while South Korea’s Kospi gained 1 percent to 2,999.52. In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.3% to 7,470.10.
China’s latest data update was a mixed bag, with retail sales and factory output stronger but housing prices and fixed asset investment weaker.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index rose 0.3% to 25,390.91, while the Shanghai Composite index fell 0.2% to 3,533.30.
In Beijing, a new stock exchange set up to serve entrepreneurs opened for trading on Monday with 81 companies amid a crackdown on the wiped out tech giants. more than $1 trillion in their overseas market value.
It joins others in Shanghai and the southern city of Shenzhen. Mainland exchanges are mostly open to foreign investors and are established primarily to raise funds for state-owned companies. President Xi Jinping said in September that the Beijing exchange would “create a key service innovation-oriented position for small and medium-sized enterprises,” the ruling party’s tenure for companies. private company.
On Friday, stocks closed on Wall Street higher but the market still ended the week lower.
The S&P 500 index rose 0.7% but ended the week down 0.3% with its first weekly loss in six weeks.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.5% and the Nasdaq composite was up 1%. The Dow lost 0.6% for the week and the Nasdaq lost 0.7%.
The stock’s recent winning streak, which produced a series of record highs for major indexes, appears to have faded as investors shift their focus from corporate earnings to rising inflation.
A wide range of companies have shown they have successfully tackled both the COVID-19 outbreak over the summer and lingering supply chain problems.
Wall Street will receive an update on consumer spending on Tuesday when the Commerce Department releases its retail sales report for October. Several major companies have yet to report earnings, including Home Depot and Walmart, will report their results on Tuesday. Target will report results on Wednesday and Macy’s will report earnings on Thursday.
Also on Monday, U.S. benchmark crude fell 61 cents to $80.18 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It lost 80 cents to $80.79 per barrel on Friday.
Brent crude, the basis for international pricing, lost 72 cents to $81.45 a barrel.
The dollar fell to 113.89 Japanese yen from 113.97 yen. The euro rose to $1.1454 from $1.1447.
