Global stocks rise on Brexit vote, US-China talks
A currency trader watches monitors at the foreign exchange dealing room of the KEB Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, March 29, 2019. Asian markets were mostly higher on Friday as U.S. and Chinese officials kicked off a fresh round of trade talks in Beijing. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
SINGAPORE — World shares were broadly higher on Friday as British lawmakers prepared to vote on a plan for leaving the European Union put forward by Prime Minister Theresa May.
Mainland Chinese markets led stocks higher in Asia, with the Shanghai Composite jumping 3.2 percent to 3,090.76 as the U.S. and China kicked off a fresh round of trade talks in Beijing.
Britain’s FTSE 100 gained 0.4 percent to 7,265.93.
France’s CAC 40 surged 0.7 percent to 5,335.35 and the DAX in Germany climbed 0.5 percent to 11,483.47.
Wall Street was poised for early gains. The future contract for the broad S&P 500 index rose 0.1 percent at 2,824.40.
That for the Dow Jones Industrial Average also added 0.1 percent to 25,770.00.
British lawmakers will vote on a 585-page agreement for withdrawing from the EU later Friday.
It is a trimmed version of the Brexit deal brokered between May and other European leaders.
Although the agreement still sets out the terms of Britain’s departure, it does not include a shorter declaration on future ties with the European Union.
May had to make the changes because of a ban on sending the original deal, which lawmakers have rejected twice, back for another vote without tweaks.
Investor sentiment also was lifted by U.S.-China trade talks that resumed in Beijing.
They aim to put to rest a dispute between the world’s two biggest economies over technology and other issues.
Elsewhere in Asia, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng jumped 1 percent to 29,051.36 and South Korea’s Kospi gained 0.6 percent to 2,140.67.
Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 rose 0.8 percent to 21,205.81.
The country’s retail sales fell slightly in February from a month earlier, preliminary data showed. But industrial production rose, and its unemployment rate for February beat market expectations.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 edged 0.1 percent higher to 6,180.70.
Shares rose in Taiwan and most of Southeast Asia.
ENERGY: Benchmark U.S. crude added 54 cents to $59.84 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It lost 11 cents to settle at $59.30 per barrel on Thursday. Brent crude, used to price international oils, gained 47 cents to $67.57 per barrel. The contract shed 14 cents to $67.10 per barrel in London.
CURRENCIES: The dollar strengthened to 110.78 yen from 110.63 yen. The euro slipped to $1.1220 from $1.1221, and the British pound eased to $1.3019 from $1.3050. / gsg
