U.S. and Chinese trade officials reaffirmed their commitment to the Phase 1 trade deal
Wall Street stocks extended the ascent overnight, seeing another record-setting session amid positive news around coronavirus treatments. A reprieve from rising tensions between the US and China added to the upbeat sentiment among investors after the top U.S. and Chinese trade officials reaffirmed their commitment to the Phase 1 trade deal. As a result, the S&P 500 rallied 1%, to register another all-time high; the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.4%, and the Nasdaq Composite added 0.6%.
Today in Asia, stocks were mixed-to-positive as market participants expressed optimism over the coronavirus vaccine and some progress in the US-China trade relations. However, both Chinese and Hong Kong stocks were lower after the reports that a Hong Kong man has been proven to be reinfected with COVID-19. As such, Shanghai Composite and Hang Seng declined by 0.35% and 0.25%, respectively. Meanwhile, Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 1.35% and Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.4%.
European stocks opened on a positive note amid the increasing investor optimism. On the data front, the headline German IFO business climate index came in at 92.6 in August, stronger than 90.5 in the previous month, and better than 92.2 expected. The current economic assessment arrived at 87.9 versus 87.0 anticipated. Meanwhile, the expectations index came in at 97.5, up from 97.0 in July.
Elsewhere, the dollar is mixed on Tuesday. EURUSD and GBPUSD regained the upside bias amid upbeat risk sentiment. However, the euro still struggles below the 1.1850 local resistance while the cable is back above 1.31 but fails to see a more sustainable recovery. USDJPY is in the green, having regained the 106.00 level and the 20-DMA.
In other markets, bitcoin price came back under the selling pressure after failed attempts to break above the $11,800 intermediate resistance on Monday. Now, BTCUSD needs to hold above the $11,500 area in order to avoid a deeper sell-off that could eventually take the prices below the $1,000 figure. As of writing, the leading digital currency was changing hands around $11,575, -1.74% on the day.
