Asian Stocks Trade Higher As Investors Await Trump, Xi Meet

Asian Stocks Talking Points:

• Stock markets were higher across the region, with US retail strength the previous day helping
• Trade hopes for the forthcoming G20 meet are dominating market action
• The US Dollar inched up, suggesting these hopes are far from universal

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Asia Pacific equity rose across the board on Tuesday, probably tracking Wall Street gains in the previous session. These came in turn on retail pep as investors looked forward to strong Cyber Monday spending.

The markets are still looking nervously though to this week’s meeting of Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping at the Buenos Aires meeting of leaders from the Group of 20 leading industrial economies. The Summit kicks off on Friday and, although there seems to be some hope that some trade progress will be made, President Trump has already said that a planned increase in tariff barriers on January 1 is highly unlikely to be delayed.

Still, for now markets seem to be clinging to those hopes. The Nikkei 225 rose 0.7%, with Shanghai up 0.4% and the Hang Seng effectively flat. Australia’s ASX added 1%. The Aussie benchmark continues to hold above November’s lows.

However, it will need to do so on a monthly closing basis to remain within its dominant long-term uptrend.

Currency markets seemed a little more worried about Mr. Trump’s comments and perhaps a little less certain that anything concrete on trade will come from the G20. The US Dollar maintained its haven bid against most major rivals, although the Austrlaian Dollar also managed gains as the Asian session went on.

The day’s major regional economic data revealed that China’s industrial profit growth decelerated for a sixth straight month, with October’s 3.6% annualized rise below the 4.1% seen in September.

Gold prices inched lower as the Dollar held up, while crude oil prices fell again on news of record Saudi output. US consumer confidence data will top what remains of the international economic schedule. The US house price index is also coming up, along with the Conference Board’s monthly snapshot of consumer sentiment.

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--- Written by David Cottle, DailyFX Research

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