NEW YORK: Key world stock market indexes climbed to new records on Wednesday on hopes a U.S.-China trade deal will reduce tensions, but oil prices slid on doubts the pact will spur world growth and boost crude demand.
U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese Vice Premier Liu He will sign a Phase 1 deal that will roll back some tariffs and see China boost purchases of U.S. goods and services, defusing an 18-month conflict between the world’s two largest economies.
Liu said the two sides would work more closely together to obtain tangible results and achieve a win-win relationship despite differences in their political and economic models, China’s official Xinhua news agency reported.
What’s most important to investors is a potential de-escalation and signs that de-escalation will continue this year, which is the outlook period for a lot of investors
MSCI’s all-world stock index set a record intraday high, as did the benchmark S&P 500 index, the Dow industrials and Nasdaq on Wall Street.
The deal is unlikely to significantly change the growth outlook, but it should allow companies to make the capital investments they haven’t, which is positive, said Marvin Loh, senior global macro strategist at State Street Global Markets.
“What’s most important to investors is a potential de-escalation and signs that de-escalation will continue this year, which is the outlook period for a lot of investors,” he said.
“If we can somehow take this out as one of the bigger risks that we had all last year, it does give some confidence to the market. Not necessarily from an economic but from a risk parameter perspective,” Loh said.
MSCI’s gauge of stocks across the globe gained 0.19% but the pan-European STOXX 600 index lost 0.08%.
On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 148.3 points, or 0.51%, to 29,087.97. The S&P 500 gained 12.62 points, or 0.38%, to 3,295.77 and the Nasdaq Composite added 35.70 points, or 0.39%, to 9,287.03.
Emerging market stocks lost 0.48%.
Commodities
Oil prices slipped on concerns the Phase 1 trade agreement may not provide much of a demand boost because the United States intends to keep tariffs on Chinese goods until a Phase 2 deal is reached.
Prices were also under pressure from a report by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries. The report said OPEC expects lower demand for its oil in 2020 even as global demand rises, as rival producers grab market share and the United States looks set for another output record.
Brent crude fell 64 cents to $63.85 a barrel. U.S.
West Texas Intermediate crude futures were down 61 cents at $57.62 a barrel.
The U.S. dollar dipped against the euro and the yen ahead of the signing of the trade deal at the White House.
The United States will maintain tariffs on Chinese goods until the completion of a second phase of a trade agreement, U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said on Tuesday.
Currencies
The dollar index, tracking the unit against six major peers, fell 0.17%, with the euro up 0.27% to $1.1157. The Japanese yen strengthened 0.01% versus the greenback at 109.99 per dollar.
U.S. Treasury yields declined as investors repositioned around new data showing producer prices barely rose in December.
Benchmark 10-year notes last rose 8/32 in price to yield 1.7899%.
U.S. producer prices edged up in December as a rise in the cost of goods was offset by weakness in services, the latest indication of tame inflation pressures that could allow the Federal Reserve to stand pat on interest rates this year.
The Labor Department said its producer price index for final demand ticked up 0.1% last month after being unchanged in November. In the 12 months through December, the PPI increased 1.3%, after gaining 1.1% in November.
