Global stocks inch up on trade hopes but growth fears cap gains

A man looks on in front of an electronic board showing stock information at a brokerage house in Nanjing, Jiangsu province, China 13 February – Reuters

TOKYO (Reuters): Global shares edged up on Tuesday after US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin confirmed US-China trade talks will resume next month, but lingering concerns about slowing global growth reduced the overall appetite for riskier assets.

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan inched up 0.1%, led by 0.6% gains in mainland Chinese shares after the vice head of China’s state planner said Beijing will step up efforts to stabilise growth.

Japan’s Nikkei was up 0.2% after a market holiday on Monday while European shares are also on track to open higher, with pan-European Euro Stoxx 50 futures up 0.26%, German DAX futures up 0.24% and FTSE futures up 0.33%.

US stock futures gained 0.38%, helped by comments from Mnuchin that US-China trade talks will resume next week. He later clarified that the negotiations will take place in two weeks.

“The comments gave a little bit of boost to sentiment, but markets are still not that optimistic either,” said Masahiro Ichikawa, senior strategist at Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management.

“It seems there have been a lot going on behind the scenes,” he said, referring to unusual exchanges in which US President Donald Trump questioned a decision by his top trade negotiators to ask Chinese officials to delay a planned trip to US farming regions. That cancellation was seen by markets as a sign all is not well in the US-China talks and helped send share prices lower on Friday.

The dispute between the world’s two largest economies has dragged on for well over a year, rattling investors and denting global growth. Concerns over a slowing global economy remained front and centre for financial markets, hurting earnings estimates, as poor business activity readings from the euro zone deepened fears of a recession and suggested more stimulus was required.

“While the Nikkei was fairly well supported, we need more catalysts to further rises. That’s also true for US markets as well,” said Takeo Kamai, head of execution service at CLSA.

“Although speculators have reacted to the trade-related headlines, real-money people appear to be staying on the sideline.” The euro wobbled at $1.0987, falling below a key support around $1.10 and not far from a 28-month low of $1.0926 touched earlier this month.

Sterling also slipped to $1.2431, after peaked at a two-month high of $1.2582 set on Friday as traders awaited a Supreme Court ruling on whether Prime Minister Boris Johnson misled Queen Elizabeth over his reasons for suspending parliament this month.

The collapse of the British travel firm Thomas Cook) could also put some pressure on the pound by highlighting the weakness of British retailing.

The yen traded at 107.62 yen per dollar, having hit two-week highs of 107.32 on Monday.

US Treasuries yields extended their decline, with the 10-year rate falling to 1.716%, edging down further from 1.908% marked on 13 September.

Oil prices also dipped amid gloomy demand outlook as investors fret about a global slowdown although uncertainty on whether Saudi Arabia would be able to restore full output after the attacks on its facilities provided some support.

Brent crude futures fell 0.52% to $64.43 a barrel while US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude lost 0.48% to $58.36 per barrel.