Global shares mixed amid caution on US-China trade talks

TOKYO – Shares advanced in early European trading Tuesday after a mixed session in Asia as investors awaited fresh developments in trade talks between the United States and China.

A Chinese investor uses his smartphone as he monitors stock prices at a brokerage house in Beijing, Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2019. Asian shares were mixed Tuesday as investor sentiment remained cautious amid worries about the next development in trade talks between the United States and China. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

France’s CAC 40 added 0.3% to 5,945.15, while Germany’s DAX rose 0.4% to 13,259.55. Britain’s FTSE 100 gained 0.4% to 7,339.84. U.S. shares were set to drift higher with Dow futures up 0.2% at 28,069. S&P 500 futures were also up 0.2% at 3,127.00.

Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 shed 0.5% to finish at 23,292.65. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 added 0.7% to 6,814.20. South Korea’s Kospi slipped 0.3% to 2,153.24. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng gained 1.6% to 27,093.80, while the Shanghai Composite index jumped nearly 0.9% to 2,933.99.

Chinese indexes rose as political protests in Hong Kong quieted somewhat, with police tightening a blockade at Hong Kong Polytechnic University. Hundreds of demonstrators who left the campus after a violent weekend were arrested.

Strong economic data and better corporate earnings than expected have buoyed U.S. shares since early October.

But the on-again, off-again negotiations between Beijing and Washington over their trade dispute remain a wild card for the markets.

“Risk sentiment can be seen little changed amid the conflicting reports on US-China trade as we remain in a very headline driven reality,” said Jingyi Pan, market strategist at IG in Singapore.

In a boost for technology stocks, especially chip makers, the Commerce Department gave another 90-day extension for Chinese tech giant Huawei to continue doing business with U.S. companies.

President Donald Trump earlier ordered that U.S. manufacturers stop supplying key components to Huawei on the grounds that it is a security risk. But the government has not shown evidence of that, and many American companies have sought exclusions to the rule for the sake of their own businesses.

Markets seemed to react with calm to news that Trump summoned Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell to the White House on Monday to discuss the economy and interest rates — issues where the president has repeatedly attacked the Fed.

Trump tweeted Monday that his meeting with Powell was “very good and cordial.” He added that they discussed “interest rates, negative interest, low inflation, easing, Dollar strength and its effect on manufacturing, trade with China, E.U. and others, etc.”

The Fed said in a statement that Powell’s message to Trump during their meeting was similar to the one he expressed in congressional testimony last week, when he said that the economy is in good shape and that the Fed would likely suspend its rate cuts for now. The central bank has cut its benchmark short-term rate three times this year to try to support the economy.

ENERGY: Benchmark oil fell 2 cents to $57.03 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It fell 67 cents to $57.05 a barrel Monday. Brent crude, the international standard, picked up 2 cents to $62.46 a barrel.

CURRENCIES: The dollar rose to 108.79 Japanese yen from 108.68 yen on Monday. The euro inched down to $1.1067 from $1.1072.

GSG