Global Stocks Gain Ahead of U.S.-China Trade Talks

Monday,   20-Aug-2018   03:50 PM (IST)

Global stocks were higher, with investors awaiting the outcome of trade talks between the United States and China later this week, which markets hope will lead to an easing of their trade disputes.The talks are reportedly set to take place in Washington through Wednesday and Thursday, shortly before new U.S. charges on Chinese goods take effect.Most Asian bourses closed with gains, with shares in mainland China faring the best, as the Chinese yuan rallied away from recent low levels.The Shanghai Composite Index ended up 1.1%, after falling to a two-year low on Friday, while the yuan reached its highest in a week as Beijing acted to prevent a test of the psychologically important 7.0000 level.In Europe, nearly all of the region's major bourses were trading higher, with most sectors in positive territory, as appetite for riskier assets improved on hopes of a trade war thaw.Among national indexes, Germany's export-heavy DAX outperformed, rallying by around 1%.The upbeat mood looked set to carry over to Wall Street, with major indexes poised to open near multi-month highs.The blue-chip Dow futures were up 70 points, or around 0.3%,the S&P 500 futures tacked on 6 points, or around 0.2%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 futures indicated a gain of 27 points, or roughly 0.4%.