Asian Markets Rise Ahead of U.S.-China Phase One Deal Signing

Investing.com – Asian markets traded mostly higher on Monday morning ahead of the potential signing of the U.S.-China partial trade deal due this week.

China’s Shanghai Composite was little changed by 10:30 PM ET (02:30 GMT), while the gained 0.3%.

The U.S. is due to ink the long awaited phase one trade deal with China at the White House on Wednesday, which hopefully will allow the world’s two largest economies to move on from a trade war that has roiled financial markets for the past 18 months.

Under the terms of the accord, Beijing will increase imports from the U.S. in exchange for the suspension of the December tariffs on Chinese imports to the U.S. and a partial rollback of some existing tariffs.

No deadline has been set for the phase two trade talks, although U.S. President Donald Trump has said earlier that negotiations will start soon after the signing of the phase one deal.

On the data front, China will report its latest GDP report this week.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rose 0.9%.

South Korea’s KOSPI advanced 0.7%. Citing news website Axios, CNBC said Washington wants to get diplomatic talks with North Korea “back on track.”

White House national security advisor Robert O’Brien told Axios that the U.S. wants to implement leader Kim Jong Un’s “commitment” to the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.So far, the two nations have not made much progress in negotiations to dismantle North Korea’s nuclear and missile program.

Down under, Australia’s ASX 200 dropped 0.5%. Gold stocks rallied to erase last week’s losses amid easing U.S.-Iran tensions. Evolution Mining surged almost 2%, and Kingsgate Consolidated rose 2.2%. Newcrest Mining was up 0.75%.

Japanese markets were closed for a holiday.

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