SHANGHAI – Asian shares climbed on Wednesday and European stocks looked set for gains after the United States President Donald Trump said negotiators were close to inking an initial trade deal.
Trump’s upbeat comments on trade stoked confidence in Asia with MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS up 0.29 percent. Australian shares added 0.93 percent and Japan’s Nikkei rose 0.39 percent.
In Europe, pan-region Euro Stoxx 50 futures STXEc1 were up 0.16 percent at 3,710, German DAX futures FDXc1 gained 0.16 percent to 13,262.5 and FTSE futures FFIc1 rose 0.1 percent to 7,412.
Chinese blue-chip shares, in contrast, dropped 0.21 percent after the data showed profits at China’s industrial firms declined in annual terms for the third consecutive month in October. The decline tracked sustained drops in producer prices and exports and underscored slowing momentum in the world’s second-largest economy.
Trump said on Tuesday the United States and China are close to agreement on the first phase of a trade deal after top negotiators from the two countries spoke by telephone and agreed to keep working on remaining issues. (Reuters)
