On Saturday night, Trump held talks with Xi Jinping and it looks as if there has been a trade war truce for the time being. The president Tweeted several times throughout yesterday, with one social media posting stating that farmers would be a very BIG and FAST beneficiary of the negotiated deal.
Wall Street rallied in response, as the Dow Jones industrial average jumped by 412 points in early trading. The S&P index started the day up by 1.5%, with the Nasdaq gaining 2%. Investors around the globe appear to be feeling much better about the situation, especially given Trump’s previous comments that he doubted a breakthrough could be made.
In a nutshell, the truce means that the US will delay imposing tougher tariffs on Chinese imports for 90 days, while China will import more from the US. The picture will certainly be clearer in three months’ time, but the news is certainly being received positively for now.
November’s Markit manufacturing PMI in the US came in at 55.3, which was ever-so-slightly below the 55.4 expected, while the ISM manufacturing reading climbed to 59.3 last month from 57.7 in October. This was better than expectations of 57.7 and further confirmation that the US economy is in fine fettle. There’s nothing of note on the schedule today, so attention will be directed on any further Brexit developments (or lack thereof), as well as the stock market’s performance.
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