Asian shares shook off a quiet start to reach new 19-month highs on Monday ahead of the expected signing of a phase 1 China-U.S. trade deal, although markets have yet to see the details of the agreement.
European bourses looked set to take a more skeptical view of the deal, with pan-region Euro Stoxx 50 futures down 0.05% at 3,778, German DAX futures up just 0.01% at 13,493, and FTSE futures eking out a 0.02% rise to 7,531.
U.S S&P 500 e-mini stock futures were looking more bullish, rising 0.31% to 3,274.8, just short of record highs.
On Monday afternoon in ASIA, MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-pacific shares outside Japan was 0.61% higher, touching its highest point since June 2018.
South Korea’s trade-sensitive Kospi added 1.01% and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was up 0.95%, while Taiwan shares added 0.74% in the first trading day after Taiwan re-elected president Tsai Ing-Wen by a landslide on Saturday.
