China, Hong Kong stocks set to open higher on Trump-Xi trade talk optimism

SHANGHAI/HONGKONG: China and Hong Kong equities are poised to open higher on Monday, buoyed by investor optimism over a potential breakthrough in trade negotiations between Washington and Beijing.

China’s blue-chip CSI300 Index is set to rise 0.8% at market open, while the Shanghai Composite Index is expected to gain 0.5%.

Hong Kong benchmark Hang Seng is set to open up 1.3%. Top Chinese and US economic officials on Sunday hashed out the framework of a trade deal for US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping to decide on later this week that would pause steeper American tariffs and Chinese rare earths export controls, US officials said on Sunday.

“Investors have been sitting on the sidelines watching trade talks for a while, and the weekend developments were a pretty positive surprise. It will give markets a boost,” said Kenny Ng, a securities strategist at Everbright Securities International.

Tech majors traded in Hong Kong are set to open up 2.1%.

The latest developments signal a stabilisation in China-US ties, easing near-term geopolitical risks, analysts at Mingsheng Securities said.

However, they cautioned that resolving specific trade frictions could remain a drawn-out process.

Trump and Xi are due to meet on Thursday on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Gyeongju, South Korea, to sign off on the terms.