Global shares climb amid US-China trade deal optimism

Wall Street is poised to add to last week’s records when markets open Monday after President Donald Trump said he expected to reach a trade agreement with China.

Futures for the S&P 500 jumped 0.9 per cent while futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.5 per cent. Nasdaq futures, boosted by chipmakers, were up 1.3 per cent. Nvidia was up 2.5 per cent while Micron jumped 4.1 per cent.

Aside from Trump’s meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping, markets will be focused on another heavy slate of corporate earnings this week, as well as what’s expected to be another quarter-point interest rate cut from the Federal Reserve on Wednesday.

Google, Meta, Microsoft, Apple and Amazon all report their latest quarterly results this week. Keurig Dr Pepper gained 3.7 per cent after the beverage company topped Wall Street’s third-quarter profit forecasts and issued strong guidance. Work on trade deals that might alleviate friction between the US, China and other major trading partners has reassured investors, especially in Asia.

Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 gained 2.5 per cent to 50,512.32, a new closing high following news that the world’s two largest economies had reached an initial consensus for Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping to finalise during a high-stakes meeting later in the week. “I have a lot of respect for President Xi,” Trump told reporters after visiting Malaysia for a summit of Southeast Asian nations, where he reached preliminary trade agreements with Malaysia, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam.