Trade war and Brexit affected the stock markets

Stocks in Asia benefited from the news connected with an upcoming trade deal between the U.S. and China. The news that Washington and Beijing reached an agreement about the “Phase one” trade deal, in principle, improved market sentiment.

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

At the same time, the Bank of Japan released “tankan” survey on Friday. According to this survey, business confidence among the large manufacturers fell to the lowest in more than six years.

In China, mainland Chinese stocks increased on Friday. 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 gained 1,48% to about 1,660.55.

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%.

Stocks in Europe

In Europe, stocks jumped on Friday thanks to the positive news about the “Phase one” trade deal. Another news which affected the stocks comes from the U.K. As a result of the parliamentary elections, the U.K.’s Prime Minister will have the opportunity to form the government.

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%.