TOKYO- Asian share prices ticked up as some investors clung to hopes that the fourth quarter will bring progress in resolving the United-States trade war that’s cast a shadow over the global economy.
Japan’s Nikkei rose 0.74 percent while MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan inched up 0.24 percent and Australia’s benchmark by 0.25 percent.
Chinese markets will be shut for a week, starting on Tuesday, to mark 70 years since the founding of the People’s Republic of China.
US stock futures rose 0.35 percent in Asia, a day after the S&P 500 gained 0.50 percent.
Technology sectors led New York gains on Monday while US-listed shares of Chinese firms bounced up a tad, after big falls on Friday, with Alibaba up 0.75 percent and Baidu gaining 1.53 percent.
During the July-September quarter, the S&P500 advanced 1.21 percent.
In Europe, the benchmark stock index gained 2.15 percent in the quarter to end at a 16-month high, thanks in part to a weak euro.
White House trade adviser Peter Navarro dismissed reports that the Trump administration was considering delisting Chinese companies from US stock exchanges as “fake news”, giving short-term players an excuse to buy back risk assets.
“Whether it was a fake news or not, it is becoming harder to know exactly what the US administration will be doing,” said Takashi Hiroki, chief strategist at Monex Securities.
China and the United States are due to resume high-level trade talks next week in Washington.
“It’s not clear how the US-China talks will progress, given there are hard-liners against China in the administration. But if there’s no further escalation in the upcoming meeting, markets will be relieved,” Hiroki said.
While the tussle over trade and technology between the world’s two largest economies has intensified, some investors are sticking to hopes of a compromise.
They say a tentative deal could be reached by the end of this year, given that President Donald Trump’s administration would strive to avoid the US economy falling into a recession in an election year.
“While we ought not to have preconception, for Trump, not having made a deal with China could be increasingly seen as negative ahead of the election next year,” said Tomoo Kinoshita, chief global strategist at Invesco Asset Management in Tokyo. — Reuters
