· Wall Street eked out slight gains on Thursday as investors waited for concrete news on a hoped-for interim trade deal between the United States and China before a new round of tariffs scheduled to kick in on Dec. 15.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI rose 28.01 points, or 0.1%, to 27,677.79, the S&P 500 .SPX gained 4.67 points, or 0.15%, to 3,117.43 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC added 4.03 points, or 0.05%, to 8,570.70.
Tech stocks led all three major U.S. stock averages marginally into the black following upbeat statements from President Donald Trump and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin that the U.S.-China trade negotiations are “on track” and “going well.”
Markets have been whipsawed in recent days by conflicting reports on whether the world’s two largest economies would be able to arrive at a “phase one” agreement prior to Dec. 15, when a new round of tariffs on Chinese imports is expected to take effect.
Market participants appeared to shrug off the drama unfolding in Washington as the U.S. House of Representatives prepared to draft articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump.
· Stocks in Asia edged higher in Friday morning trade ahead of the release of U.S. nonfarm payrolls data for November expected to be released later in the day stateside.
The Nikkei 225 in Japan rose 0.19% in early trade while the Topix index was fractionally higher. In South Korea, the Kospi added 0.57% as shares of industry heavyweight Samsung Electronics and chipmaker SK Hynix both added at least 1% each.
Meanwhile, shares in Australia edged higher in morning trade, as the S&P/ASX 200 rose about 0.1%.
Overall, the MSCI Asia ex-Japan index traded 0.19% higher.
Reference: CNBC, Reuters
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