Global stocks climb on trade optimism; Treasuries fall

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Equities around the world rose on Monday while U.S. Treasury prices fell as risk assets were back in fashion after the United States shelved plans to impose tariffs on Mexico, easing worries about the impact of another trade war on the global economy.

The U.S. dollar gained against a basket of major currencies while the Mexican peso was on track for its biggest gain against the dollar since July 2018.

The U.S.-Mexico trade and migration deal appeared to give investors a boost after a disappointing U.S. jobs report on Friday, sending U.S. government bond yields higher.

“Trump’s walking back of potential tariffs on Mexican imports has offered a reprieve, not reversal, of the recent bullish price action in Treasuries,” wrote Ian Lyngen, head of U.S. rates strategy at BMO Capital Markets.

“It follows intuitively that positive news on one of the multiple trade war fronts would offset (at least to a small degree) the building economic apprehension which was furthered by Friday’s disappointing employment data.”

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 180.64 points, or 0.7%, to 26,164.58, the S&P 500 gained 26.19 points, or 0.91%, to 2,899.53 and the Nasdaq Composite added 133.97 points, or 1.73%, to 7,876.07.

The pan-European STOXX 600 index rose 0.20% and MSCI’s gauge of stocks across the globe gained 0.80%.

FILE PHOTO: People walk in front of a board displaying stock indexes in Tokyo April 22, 2015. REUTERS/Thomas Peter/File Photo

Emerging market stocks rose 1.54%. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan closed 1.32% higher.

MEXICAN PESO GAINS

With the Mexico spat seemingly resolved, investors will now focus on whether U.S. President Donald Trump can reach a similar deal with China. Investors are hoping Trump meets his Chinese counterpart at the Group of 20 leaders’ meeting later this month to seek a compromise on trade.

In currency trading, the dollar index rose 0.24%, with the euro down 0.16% to $1.1313.

The euro pulled back after sources said European Central Bank policymakers were open to cutting the ECB’s policy rate should economic growth weaken.

The Mexican peso gained 2.32% versus the U.S. dollar at 19.17.

China’s yuan slipped to its weakest this year after the country’s imports fell the most in nearly three years and as talks to end the Sino-U.S. dispute remained deadlocked.

FILE PHOTO: Traders work on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, U.S., June 3, 2019. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/FIle Photo

Spot gold dropped 0.9% to $1,328.56 an ounce, after closing at its highest level since February on Friday.

Oil prices steadied as major producers Saudi Arabia and Russia had yet to agree on extending an output-cutting deal and U.S.-China trade tensions continued to threaten demand for crude.

Brent crude futures rose 2 cents to $63.31 a barrel by 11:02 a.m. EDT (1529 GMT). U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude gained 23 cents to $54.22 a barrel.54.39

Additional reporting by Kate Duguid, Karen Brettell in New York, Tom Arnold in London, Hideyuki Sano in Tokyo and Noah Sin in Hong Kong; Editing by Jon Boyle, Keith Weir, Raissa Kasolowsky and Dan Grebler

Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
source: reuters.com