Stocks and “Phase one” Trade Deal

Last week, the U.S. and China reached a “Phase one” trade deal. This agreement will affect some of the most important topics, such as intellectual property and technology issues. Stocks in Asia and Europe benefited from the positive news connected with the protracted trade war.

On Friday, stocks strengthened thanks to the positive news about the “Phase one” trade deal. Another news which affected the stocks came from the U.K. As a result of the parliamentary elections, the U.K.’s Prime Minister will have the opportunity to leave the European Union.

The pan-European Stoxx 600 increased by around 1.5% in the afternoon, with travel and leisure stocks gained 3.8%.

Retail stocks added 3.4%, while both banks and basic resources each gained 2.6%.

Stocks in Asia

Several hours earlier, stocks in mainland China reached positive results. The Shanghai Composite added 1.78% to around 2,967.68. Another major Chinese stock, the Shenzhen component, rose by 1.71% to 10,004.62.

The Shenzhen composite increased by 1,48% to about 1,660.55.

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index increased by 2.57% to close at 27,687.76. The shares of Tencent rose 3.44%. In the meantime, the shares of HSBC jumped 2.99%.

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 added 2.55% to 24,023.10 as shares of index heavyweight Fast Retailing rose 4.39%. The Topix index gained 1.59% to end its trading day at 1,739.98.

On Friday, the Bank of Japan released its “tankan” survey. Based on the information from this survey, business confidence among the large manufacturers fell to the lowest level in more than six years.

In South Korea, the Kospi index saw robust gains as it closed 1.54% higher at 2,170.25. The shares of chipmaker SK Hynix jumped 1.94%.

Shares in Australia also increased as the S&P/ASX 200 index rose by 0.46% to close at 6,739.70. The shares of major miner BHP gained 1.94%.