European shares rose this morning, as investors welcomed signs of progress in US-China trade talks aimed at cooling a trade war between the world’s two largest economies and dispelling some of the uncertainty clouding financial markets.
London’s FTSE index added 11 points (0.1%) to stand at 8,566 by 9am, while the Paris CAC gained 74 points (0.9%) to trade at 7,818 and the Frankfurt DAX rose 257 points (1.1%) to reach 23,757.
Dublin’s ISEQ index was also higher this morning, advancing 161 points (1.5%) to hit 11,045. Shares in Bank of Ireland jumped 3.8% to trade at €11.43, while Kingspan was up 3.3% to stand at €79.85. Shares in AIB were up 2.5% to reach €6.40 while Irish Continental Group climbed 1.4% to €5.23.
Earlier in Asian trade, Tokyo’s Nikkei index gained 141 points (0.4%) to finish at 37,644, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index jumped 681 points (3%) to close at 23,549 after the US and China said they have agreed to a deal to slashreciprocal tariffs in a substantial de-escalation of apotentially damaging trade war.
The Dow and S&P 500 edged lower on Friday night following a low-key session as markets awaited weekend US-China trade talks. US President Donald Trump said an 80% tariff on China “seems right” in a post on social media. The world’s two biggest economies have imposed triple-digit levies on each other in recent weeks.
The Dow Jones finished down 0.3% at 41,249, while the broad-based S&P 500 dipped 0.1% to close at 5,660, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index was flat at 17,929.