HONG KONG: Asian markets broadly rose Tuesday with investors keeping tabs on the latest developments in the China-US trade talks while Hong Kong saw a slight recovery after the previous day’s steep losses.
The pound held gains after British Prime Minister Boris Johnson was given a boost by news the Brexit party would not run against his Conservatives in hundreds of seats in next month’s general election.
While there is a broad expectation China and the US will eventually reach a mini trade pact, the waters were muddied over the weekend after Donald Trump appeared to dismiss Beijing’s claims they had agreed a plan to roll back tariffs as the talks progress.
The comments reminded dealers that the negotiations, while advancing, remained fragile and that a wider deal will have some bumps along the way.
“Markets have been skittish,” Matt Forester, chief investment officer at BNY Mellon’s Lockwood Advisors, said.
“We will need more concrete information about the structure and timing of any kind of final trade arrangement, but in the meantime we are operating on scraps of information.”Stephen Innes at AxiTrader said a speech by Trump at the New York Economic Club later in the day “could be the main event this week, especially if the president dangles any tangible details about his upcoming meeting with President Xi (Jinping)”.
