World shares advance on back of rally in China shares

People walk by an electronic stock board of a securities firm in Tokyo, Tuesday, April 16, 2019. Shares were mixed Tuesday in Asia in mostly narrow trading in the absence of any major market-driving news.(AP Photo/Koji Sasahara)

TOKYO – World shares advanced Tuesday, led by a rally in Chinese markets. Upbeat home price data from China and encouraging talk from the White House on trade negotiations with Beijing appeared to help lift sentiment.

Germany’s DAX surged 0.6% to 12,096.93 while the CAC 40 in France gained 0.3% to 5,524.92.

Britain’s FTSE 100 climbed 0.3% to 7,458.74.

Wall Street looked set for gains with the future contract for the Dow up 0.4% at 26,476.00. That for the S&P 500 advanced 0.4% to 2,919.70.

In Asia, the Shanghai Composite index jumped 2.4% to 3,253.60 and the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong surged 1.1% to 30,129.87.

The Nikkei 225 index added 0.2% to 22,221.66.

South Korea’s Kospi gained 0.2% to 2,246.63 and the S&P/ASX 200 in Australia gained 0.4% to 6,277.40.

India’s Sensex advanced 1% to 39,281.69.

Shares also rose in Taiwan and Southeast Asia.

Traders will be watching for key economic growth data from Beijing on Wednesday.

News that China’s house prices rose in March raised hopes that a slowdown in the all-important property sector may be abating.

Home prices in 70 major cities rose on average, the government reported.

Optimism over prospects for resolving trade conflicts between the U.S. and China has grown.

Larry Kudlow, director of the president’s National Economic Council, told reporters negotiations over complaints that China has predatory technology policies were going “very well” and making good progress.

“We’re not quite there yet. We’ve still got some open issues. Currency reforms look very good, for example, there’s been progress on enforcement. Just pretty much across the board,” he said. “I think the key here is steady conversations, steady conversations since they were here,” Kudlow said, referring to the latest round of talks, which were held in Washington earlier this month.

“The air of optimism remains thick as improving risk sentiment on the back of U.S.-China trade talks has Asia markets accelerating higher today led by substantial gains on the Shanghai Composite Index,” Stephen Innes of SPI Asset Management said in a commentary.

ENERGY: The price of oil gave back some of its big gains for the year. Benchmark U.S. crude oil fell 10 cents to $63.30 per barrel. It fell 49 cents to settle at $63.40 on Monday. Brent crude, the international standard, fell 19 cents to $70.98. Both remain up more than 30% for the year.

CURRENCIES: The dollar slipped to 111.93 Japanese yen from 112.01 yen. The euro rose to $1.1310 from $1.1307. The British pound slipped to $1.3089 from $1.3105. /gsg