US Treasury Secretary, Steve Mnuchin, was considering easing trade tariffs on Chinese imports as the two economic superpowers continue trade negotiations. The signs of possible progress in negotiations over the Sino-US trade war boosted equities in Asia with the Shanghai Composite Index advanced 0.8 percent to 2,579.76, and Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 added 1.2 percent to 20,655.08. Australian stocks closing higher for a fourth straight day with the ASX 200 adding 30 points or 0.5% to 5879.6 points. Over the week, the top 200 index rose 1.8% while the broader All Ordinaries also rose 1.8%. U.S. crude oil rose 54 cents to $52.61 per barrel while Brent crude oil, adding 47 cents to $61.65 per barrel in London.
Equities in Europe are on bulls playground with DAX trading 0.94 higher at 110,020 Cac40 adding 0.97% to 4840 and FTSE in London gaining 0.45%.
On the Lookout: US-China trade talks headlines after The Wall Street Journal’s story, that the US administration is considering reduce tariffs on Chinese imports will set the tone today in the markets. The economic calendar includes UK retail sales where analysts expect to drop 0.8% m/m in December, following a 1.4% rebound seen in November. Total retail sales are seen arriving at 3.6% over the year, same as that booked previously. In the US, industrial production and consumer sentiment data will be released later today.
GBP futures markets from CME Group noted open interest dropped by nearly 2K contracts on Thursday from Wednesday’s final 216, 613 contracts. Volume followed suit, shrinking by almost 16.2K contracts and clinching the second drop in a row.
The Aussie dollar has rallied its way back to 71.9 US cents after hitting lows around 71.5 US cents yesterday. The pair is trading around the crucial 100-day moving average facing resistance at 0.7236 weekly high and support at 0.7146 previous daily low.
CME Group’s flash data for EUR futures markets showed traders added around 1.1K contracts to their open interest positions on Thursday vs. Wednesday’s final 525,546 contracts. In the same line, volume rose by more than 8.3K contracts following the previous sharp drop.