Stock indexes advanced from Seoul to Wellington, including gains in Hong Kong’s Hang Seng and on mainland China bourses
Asian equity indexes jumped, as investors’ mood turned optimistic on news that presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping had spoken to each other overnight about trade, raising the possibility that a deal could be reached to end the US-China trade war.
Markets gauges jumped from Seoul to Wellington. Hong Kong’s key Hang Seng Index soared by as much as 2.7 per cent, its biggest intraday percentage jump in a year, to as much as 26,113.16. Benchmarks advanced on the two exchanges in mainland China, with the Shanghai Composite Index rising by as much as 2 per cent, while the Shenzhen Composite Index increased by 2.5 per cent.
The gains came on news that Trump and Xi had a “very good conversation,” according to a post by the US president on his Twitter account.
The heads of the world’s two largest economies spoke about trade and North Korea, ahead of their highly anticipated meeting at the G20 summit in Argentina this month. “Those discussions are moving al
ong nicely,” Trump wrote.
“Positive comments from President Trump over US-China trade tension are cheering the market in the short term,” said JPMorgan Asset Management’s Asia-Pacific chief market strategist Tai Hui. A moderation in the strength of the US dollar, a stabilising relationship between the US and China, and more economic stimulus from Beijing “will be the key ingredients to revive market confidence in Asia,” he wrote in a report.
