Today's Edition
(AFP)
Most stock markets rallied on Friday after the White House confirmed President Donald Trump would meet China's Xi Jinping next week, stoking optimism for a cooling of trade tensions between the economic superpowers.
The gains came as the surge in oil prices sputtered.
Equities have endured a volatile period after the US president sparked fresh trade war fears two weeks ago by threatening to hit Beijing with 100% tariffs over its recent controls on rare-earth minerals, sparking tit-for-tat measures.
However, the row has calmed down since then, soothing nerves, and on Thursday White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt announced Trump would meet his Chinese counterpart on October 30, on the sidelines of the APEC summit in South Korea.
"I think we're going to come out very well and everyone's going to be very happy," Trump said later Thursday regarding his sit-down with Xi.
The face-to-face will be the first since Trump returned to power in January.
China's commerce minister Wang Wentao provided an extra sense of optimism Friday by telling reporters that the two sides "can find ways to resolve each other's concerns".
That came as a new round of trade talks between high-level officials from both countries got underway in Malaysia.
Equity traders gave big cheer to the news, with all three main indexes on Wall Street finishing well up and pushing back towards records. And Asia was happy to pick up the baton.
Tokyo climbed more than one percent, while Shanghai, Seoul, Singapore, Bangkok and Indonesia were also in positive territory, though Sydney, Manila and Mumbai fell.
London rose but Paris and Frankfurt edged down, even as data showed eurozone business activity picked up in October.
Tech firms were again among the best performers, helped by a strong revenue forecast from US giant Intel Corp.
Investors are now keenly awaiting the release later in the day of US consumer price data, which has been delayed by the government shutdown in Washington.
But while the reading will be closely watched for its implications for Federal Reserve policy, markets widely expect the central bank to cut interest rates again when it meets next week.
