(Bloomberg) -- Stocks climbed on Thursday as signs of goodwill in the trade war boosted risk appetite and investors counted down to a meeting of the European Central Bank. U.S. equity futures and Treasuries rose.
The Stoxx Europe 600 Index edged higher, advancing a third day as contracts on the S&P 500, Dow Jones Industrial and Nasdaq 100 gauges all pointed to positive open on Wall Street. Shares climbed in most of Asia after President Donald Trump said he will delay the next U.S. tariff increase on China by about two weeks and following reports Beijing is considering American farm imports. Hong Kong equities dipped, weighed down by a slide in shares of the city’s exchange following a surprise takeover bid for its London counterpart. The offshore yuan climbed and the yen retreated.
The euro was little changed and European bonds nudged higher ahead of the ECB meeting, where policy makers are expected to lower the deposit rate and commence a new round of monetary stimulus.
The moves by China and the U.S. to ease tensions ahead of face-to-face talks in Washington in the coming weeks is helping support sentiment as investors await key central bank decisions. Trump said he was moving back a 5% increase in tariffs on a swathe of Chinese imports by two weeks, while Beijing may allow companies to resume purchases of U.S. agricultural products, according to people familiar with the situation.
“The quantum and nature of the changes mean they are more symbolic than substantial, but were still well received by investors,” said Michael McCarthy, chief market strategist at CMC Markets Plc in Sydney.
In addition to Thursday’s ECB gathering, the Federal Reserve is meeting next week, with some traders paring expectations of accommodation and August’s bullish bond sentiment fading. They’ll be watching another key indicator for the world’s largest economy on Thursday: The core U.S. consumer price index, which excludes food and energy, is expected to show a gain of 2.3% in the 12 months through August -- the biggest annual advance in a year.
These are the main moves in markets:
Stocks
- Futures on the S&P 500 Index climbed 0.2% as of 8:10 a.m. London time.
- The Stoxx Europe 600 Index increased 0.2%.
- The Shanghai Composite Index advanced 0.7%.
- The MSCI Emerging Market Index gained 0.4%.
- The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index dipped 0.1%.
- The euro was little changed at $1.1015.
- The British pound gained 0.1% to $1.234.
- The onshore yuan jumped 0.4% to 7.089 per dollar.
- The Japanese yen fell 0.1% to 107.98 per dollar.
- The yield on 10-year Treasuries sank one basis point to 1.72%.
- The yield on two-year Treasuries climbed less than one basis point to 1.68%.
- Germany’s 10-year yield fell one basis point to -0.58%.
- Britain’s 10-year yield dipped one basis point to 0.632%.
- Japan’s 10-year yield declined one basis point to -0.208%.
- West Texas Intermediate crude increased 0.4% to $55.99 a barrel.
- Iron ore gained 3.8% to $94.40 per metric ton.
- Gold climbed 0.3% to $1,501.64 an ounce.