Global stocks gain on trade hope, American dollar flatlined

• Financial

On Thursday, the 27th of June 2019, a gauge of global equity market had gained, while the American dollar had been treading water throughout the day, as investors seemed to have sought for alternative assets such as gold or government bonds ahead of a high-stake G20 summit on June 28th-29th.

Besides, investors optimisms had added to a bullish bias over hopes that a Trump-Xi meeting expected to take place over the second day of Japan G20 summit could ease trade tensions between Washington and Beijing. Although, White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow said on Thursday (June 27th) to a Fox News interview that nothing was agreed and there had not been any preconditions before Trump-Xi meeting, earlier a Hong Kong report had been quoted saying that an informal truce had been reached, which headed off frets of further escalation of trade-spat and spurred investors’ belief that a decipherable trade deal between US and China could come along sooner-than-anticipated and pause a nearly year-long trade spat that had toiled trillions from the global money markets.

Being cautiously optimistic over an easing of Sino-US trade spat, a chief global market strategist at Invesco in New York, Kristina Hooper said, “I continue to be very skeptical that the U.S., at least this current administration, will reach a deal with China.

I can’t find any compelling reasons why China would make real concessions to the U.S”. Amid rising uncertainties over a Trump-Xi meeting on Japan G20 Summit, the US dollar index measured against a basket of six major currencies on an average had been little changed on Thursday’s (June 27th) market closer to 96.20, while MSCI’s gauge of global indices across the globe which keeps track of 49 stock exchanges added 0.42 percent.

Meanwhile, regional Pan-European STOXX 600 had been flatlined, while German equities added gains, largely driven by an 8.7 percent gain of Bayer AG over easing concerns of its Monsanto weedkiller lawsuits. Despite a hike of appetite for safe-haven assets, US gold futures had settled 0.2 percent lower at $1,1412 an ounce.

In Asia, Hong Kong added 1.42 percent in an alignment with the mainland Shanghai, while Bombay stock exchange wrapped up flatlined. Over Europe, London’s FTSE 100 shed 0.19 percent, and French CAC 40 was down by 0.13 percent at Thursday’s (June 27th) market closure, while Frankfurt’s DAX added 0.21 percent on a havoc-scale gain of Chemical group Bayer AG, which had regained more than $4 billion euros in market capitalization on Thursday’s (June 27th) market closure after losing more than one-fifth of its valuation since March this year.